WT Art Faculty to Step Out of Comfort Zones for New Exhibition

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University art faculty members will use an exhibition of their own works to welcome students back to campus.

An opening reception for the WT Art Program’s “How We Spent Our Summer” exhibition is set for 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 1 in the Dord Fitz Formal Gallery in Mary Moody Northen Hall. The show will hang through Sept. 27.

“The art program starts every school year with an exhibition of recent work by the faculty to show what they have been up to and set an example to our students that we practice what we preach,” said Jon Revett, art program director and Doris Alexander Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts. “The title of the exhibit alludes to the fact that the majority of this work was indeed made over the summer, as the faculty often uses this time to work on their own studio practices.”

Revett said faculty members in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities will display a wide variety of boundary-pushing media, from experimental video art to ephemeral sculpture and painting, drawing and printmaking on non-traditional grounds.

Photo: "82" is a ceramic sculpture by Marcus Melton, an associate professor of art and graphic designer. It will be on view in "How We Spent Our Summer," an exhibition of works by WT art faculty that opened Aug. 22.

“Another impressive aspect is that many of the artists are working outside their normal fields,” Revett said. “For instance, Marcus Melton, a graphic designer, is working ceramics, and Misty Gamble, a ceramic sculptor, made a found-object installation. The willingness to take risks and get outside of one’s comfort zone is fundamental maintaining an effective creative practice, and the fact the WT Art Program is doing this across the board sets a great example for the students.”

Participating artists are Ann Callen, instructor of graphic design; Gamble, assistant professor of 3D art; Anna Lemnitzer, assistant professor of art and design; Michael Longhofer, instructor of art; Marcus Melton, associate professor of art; Revett; and Rob Weingart, instructor of art and gallery director.

Fitz Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and by appointment Fridays and Saturdays. Email jrevett@wtamu.edu .

Fostering an appreciation of the arts is a key component of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World .

That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the five-year campaign — which publicly launched Sept. 23 — has raised more than $110 million.

Top photo: Misty Gamble's "Our Animal Bodies and the Earth's Currents" is a found-object work comprised of fish nets, corn and ceramic. It's on view in "How We Spent Our Summer" in the Dord Fitz Gallery at West Texas A&M University.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

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