The Marshall University School of Art and Design will open two new art exhibits to usher in the Fall 2021 exhibition season, the TFA 2021 Emerging Artist Fellows Exhibition and Shifting Sediments.
The TFA 2021 Emerging Artist Fellows Exhibition will be on view Aug. 23 through Sept. 17 in the Charles W. and Norma C. Carroll Gallery, located in the Visual Arts Center at 927 3rd Ave. in downtown Huntington.
This exhibition features the work of six artists selected by Tamarack Foundation for the Arts (TFA) Emerging Artist Fellowships for 2021. TFA Emerging Artist Fellows are early-career artists working in West Virginia who have been awarded a year of support and mentorship based on the quality of their work, and who have demonstrated readiness to launch a sustainable career.
This year’s fellows are Brandy Jefferys (Cabell County), Suzan Ann Morgan (Upshur County), Emily Prentice (Randolph County), Kelsie Tyson (Greenbrier County), Nichole Westfall (Kanawha County) and Blake Wheeler (Kanawha County).
“The artists in this group are painters, fiber artists, muralists, ceramists, photographers, activists and educators who are deeply committed to making positive contributions to the cultural fabric of West Virginia,” said Gallery Director Jamie Platt of Marshall’s School of Art and Design. “Huntington residents visiting the exhibition will recognize colorful, powerful ceramic and textile works by Marshall University alum Kelsie Tyson, as well as Brandy Jefferys’ exuberant paintings of pepperoni rolls and sandwiches from Tudor’s Biscuit World. If not, what are you even doing? Treat yourself to a trip to this exhibition.”
The public is invited to a closing reception from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17. The Carroll Gallery’s hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Meanwhile, Shifting Sediments opens in the Birke Art Gallery in Smith Hall Aug. 30 and remains on view through Sept. 30. Shifting Sediments juxtaposes the artworks of Caroline Hatfield, Andrew Needle and Kathleen Thum, all of whom focus on the material qualities of the earth beneath our feet.
Hatfield has constructed a river of glistening coal slag that empties into the center of the gallery, illuminated by the soft orange glow of an industrial beacon light. Nearby on surrounding walls, Thum’s skillfully rendered drawings of coal make a powerful connection to the river of slag, highlighting coal’s visual/material qualities amongst the myriad social/economic/political ones. Rounding out the exhibition, Needle’s close-up paintings illuminate the colors and textures of natural forms as transformed by time and exposure to the elements.
Visitors to this exhibition are invited into a conversation about time, transformation, and meaning in relation to the land. The public is invited to a closing reception at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29.
All School of Art and Design events are free and open to the public. For more information and to find out about the gallery hours, navigate to the website https://www.marshall.edu/art-galleries/ or call the School of Art and Design at 304-696-7299. For more information about the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts, visit them on the web at www.TamarackFoundation.org.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all events are subject to change and visitors should call the School of Art and Design or check the website for up-to-date information. All visitors, regardless of vaccination status, will be required to wear masks in both galleries.