GVSU Department of Visual and Media Arts

Congratulations to VMA alumni Teresa Zbiciak!!!

Teresa Zbiciak is pursuing visionary, collaborative work that benefits communities. After earning her bachelor’s degree in art and design, Teresa followed a dream of working on organic farms, growing her knowledge of plants, fungi, soil microbiomes, and radical sustainability. Over the years, Teresa realized that sustainability required design to make daily life easier, not more complicated. The question was: how? After collaborating with a landscape architect on a green infrastructure project, Teresa was inspired to pursue her master’s degree in landscape architecture at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. Following her graduation, Teresa intends to work in community-based coalitions that revitalize degraded sites into places that support people, pollinators, and the cooling of the planet. She writes that, “With dedication and ingenuity, we can co-create solutions that transcend even our own expectations.” CEW+ celebrates Teresa’s vision and names her a Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar.

Click here to learn more about Teresa: https://bit.ly/4ck2L8c

So excited to welcome our new Padnos Artist in Residence in VMA, Katya Grokhovsky!

New Padnos Distinguished Artist-in-Residence eager to embed in community, guide students Katya Grokhovsky, an interdisciplinary artist, is starting the residency in August.

https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2024/vma-faculty-member-earns-smithsonian-award.htm?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3Qcx3-i6K8u8rmg7sY56jcGE-Lg8LnKXDEwEPewj4CmEYxPNvo_KjwfJE_aem_ATzTiiuQFmX3ptvanKNM5-E2sOahkaZRMS-3uetDlnGvEMDO3Uu1dSHR3NjV3MhR2IghY2-ERdBEjjTuR7_wNWbZ

VMA faculty member earns Smithsonian award - Norwood Viviano will have his work exhibited at the National Building Museum Norwood Viviano will receive a mid-career artist award and have his work exhibited at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

https://t.e2ma.net/message/5j0aeh/pzhmlst

email : Webview : Emmy Bright Exhibition & Visit: Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

https://www.gvsu.edu/vma/padnos-distinguished-artist-in-residence-125.htm

Our time with VMA's Alumni-in-Residence, Jesse Gregg, was inspiring beyond words. Thanks Jesse for being so generous with your knowledge and time!

Hey everyone, The Dress to Protest Show is up. Come check it out and you get a very special bonus of having the opportunity to see an exhibition of a selection of People's History Posters from Brett Colley's Printmaking course!!!

https://lanthorn.com/98847/laker_life/student-artwork-showcase-builds-confidence-and-careers/

Student Artwork Showcase Builds Confidence and Careers Artwork from three Grand Valley State University students are now displayed in the Michigan House and Senate office buildings. The pieces were chosen for the buildings through a program called “Student Art in the Legislature”. The program, which is a partnership between the Michigan Legislature ...

Fashion helps to stimulates social and political change. We see it in street protests, what you personally decide to wear in the morning, cat walks, performances, on tv, and in galleries. Protest fashions give power to the movement, providing a focal point, helping promote the ideals of the group. It speaks volumes, giving us an anchor point, furthering the cause and bringing us together. Clothing is not something that you simply wear, it is a statement on who you are and what you believe.

The students were ask to purchase a uniform (mechanic's coveralls), a garment that is about identification, unity, position and belonging and create a new wearable garment that protests an issue important to them— such as gender, race, politics, power, class, body image, animal rights, or environmental issues.

September 11-22, Padnos Student Art Gallery, Calder Art Center, GVSU, Allendale Campus,
Reception: Thursday, September 21, 5-7pm
You are welcome to wear your protest fashion. It cannot debase the sanctity of all lives. No hate language or references.

All are welcome and let me know if you need a parking pass.

https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2023/gvsu-student-artwork-to-be-showcased-in-legislatures-office-buildings.htm

GVSU student artwork to be showcased in Legislature's office buildings GVSU regularly participates in the exhibit, part of the "Student Art in the Legislature" program.

Congratulations VMA Student Blake Matthews on their Senior Project Exhibition titled, "Hands, Elbows, Pits, and P***s." The exhibition reception is this evening from 5-7pm (12/8) in the Padnos Student Gallery on the lower level of Calder Art Center- come celebrate!

The Art in London Study Abroad experience is back in 2023! After 3 years on hiatus, students will have the chance to spend a month across the ocean learning about Art and Design. Scholarships and Financial Aid are available, and you may earn up to 12 credits!
-
Prof. Tim Fisher will lead the group this year, with the help of Prof. .
-
Interested? Curious? Come to one of the information sessions on 10/11 or 10/18.

Prof Tony Thompson making pizzas with his wood fired oven for students at the Fall Photo Gathering

VMA is lucky to have Halstead Jewelry Supplier visiting VMA to talk about Branding and Marketing your work. All of the wonderful information that Kelli has to talk with us about is relevant to more than just the Jewelry and Metalsmithing students. All are invited. She will be with us on September 27, time to be announced soon.

Civic Studio is proud to present Superfund Coffee Hide Underground Furniture Strike, an exhibition of research-driven art that looks at the histories, presents, and futures of the SWAN neighborhood on the west side of Grand Rapids. Working in a variety of media—video, drawing, installation, design, sound, and photography—the artists in Civic Studio have responded to diverse subjects including the Butterworth Landfill, the role of coffee culture in gentrification, the leather trade, symbolic and literal burial sites, and the driving forces behind the furniture labor strikes of the early twentieth century.

Please join us for an opening reception with the artists on Friday, April 22 from 5 to 7 p.m. at 336 Straight Ave SW.

Gallery hours: Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24 from 2 to 6 p.m.

Special thanks to PADNOS for their generous support of this project.

Contact: Sean J Patrick Carney, [email protected]

Please join us next week on April 13th in learning about current Padnos Distinguished Artist-in-Residence Sean J Patrick Carney! He will be giving a talk beginning at 1:40pm in the Calder Art Center Atrium about an upcoming research trip through the American Southwest titled Rim of the Visible Ground.

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean, Jennifer Drake, will be introducing Sean and moderating a follow-up discussion with GVSU Faculty Joel Potrykus and Caitlin Horrocks. Potrykus is a fellow member of the Department of Visual & Media Arts within Film/Video Production, and Horrocks will be joining the conversation from the Writing Department.

Following the talk and discussion, Sean will use a large-scale paper map to show the locations for the research trip and describe the scale that this trip demands. Refreshments will be served during the mapping portion of the event, and guests are encouraged to socialize more informally during that time. The event is expected to wrap up at 3:30pm, and guests are welcome to come as their schedule permits.

Hannah Batsel will be visiting the VMA next week on Tuesday April 5th! She will do a workshop on printmaking in the Calder Art Center Atrium. After, She will be speaking about her work based in printmaking, bookmaking, illustration and writing with a reception to follow. Please stop by any or all of these events for a chance to meet Hannah!

"Because storytelling is so intrinsic to how people contextualize, experience, and even lay claim to the world, my work takes the form of narrative structures such as the artist book and the interactive installation. Through meticulous craftsmanship in the depiction of lush environments, opulent aristocracy, and fantastic animals, these works seduce the viewer into enjoying and appreciating imagined worlds imbued with real ugliness. My role, in the end, is that of the storyteller: to entice and engage, but also to investigate real-world power dynamics through a more inviting, fictional lens."
-Hannah Batsel

This time of year there are so many culminating events across all disciples in the VMA and we look forward to showcasing them in the coming weeks!

Works from Margie Griggs' BFA Exhibition are featured here, and can still be viewed in person for just one more day in the Padnos Student Art & Design Gallery in Calder Art Center!

Her work is primarily print-based and focuses on depicting nature in the Midwest region. 🌾

"Students in Julie Goldstein's animation class have had an opportunity this semester to create animations that will be projected onto the stage to accent the choreography of Grand Rapids Ballet dancers.

Their work will be part of the Ballet's Jumpstart Performance on March 25-27; information and how to purchase tickets is on the Ballet's website.

"This is something where students can have a high-impact learning experience," said Goldstein, assistant professor of film and video production."

Read the full article written by Peg West on GVNext!
https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2022/animation-students-create-images-to-accent-grand-rapids-ballet-dancers-on-stage.htm?hitReferer=email

Image Credits: Images 1 & 2 by Kendra Stanley-Mills & Image 3 by Amanda Pitts

https://www.gvsu.edu/forum/view.htm?articleId=27CE7B00-C63A-0BDD-82085FFDB4F5608C We’re very grateful for Jenna’s work for our department. We could not do what we do without her. 😊😊😊

GVFaces: Jenna Stehouwer The academic department coordinator for Visual and Media Arts advocates for student voices and student art.

Students enrolled in VMA’s “Art & The Worlds of Islam" (ART 422) recently visited the Grand Valley Art Gallery to see items from the collection in person! Time was spent connecting several works from West and South Asia to key themes central to the class. This is one of the Art History offerings in Visual and Media Arts, the course welcomes majors and non-majors!

In addition to screenings, the CINESPACE film series also connects Visual & Media Arts students with film professionals! Most recently, Director Kurt Walker joined the event live via Zoom for a post-screening discussion + Q/A with attendees on March 2nd. The series continues almost to the end of the semester each Wednesday at 6:30pm Rm174 LSH hosted by Visual & Media Arts Professor Spencer Everhart.

Tomorrow's (3/16) screening is: THE CONVERSATION
"Made between The Godfather (1972) and its sequel, Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation is somewhat overshadowed by those monumental gangster epics but is as much a masterpiece as those confirmed classics. Exploring the nature of paranoia that inevitably results from increasingly-watchful technology, the film follows Gene Hackman as a professional surveillance expert whose recordings may (or may not) contain the details of a potential murder plot."

VMA is pleased to partner with Digital Studies to host Visiting Speaker Aaron Sundman! There will be two events to learn about Sundman's work: March 23rd 6-8pm and March 31st 2:30-3:45pm. The first is a lecture and the second is a workshop where participants will have the opportunity to mint their own NFT. Both will take place in LSH 154.

"Aaron Sundman is a futurist visionary technologist who is developing socially egalitarian, economically viable and environmentally friendly solutions for creators and artists using blockchain based systems. Rooted in his love of theatre and improv- he strives to help people reduce their pain, increase their happiness by harnessing the power of technology. Aaron resides at the intersection of joy and technology.

Today, Aaron seeks to develop a platform where this technology can be made accessible to all, especially artists and musicians who have long been underserved in protecting and monetizing their creations. He believes that every human being should be given the chance to make unique and provably scarce creations that is as unique and scarce as the individual creating it."