WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Jan. 16, 2015 — The annual Art Faculty Exhibition opens the new semester at West Liberty University with a unique display of six-inch art from the experts. On display from Jan. 21 through Feb. 12, 2015, the exhibition begins with a public reception, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 21 in West Liberty University’s Nutting Gallery. 2015_Faculty_Exhibition_Postcard

Art faculty members participating in this year’s exhibition are Sarah Davis, Brian Fencl, James Haizlett, Martyna Matusiak, Moon Jung Kang, Rebecca Kiger, Lee Ann Thill, Nancy Tirone, Lambros Tsuhlares and Robert Villamagna. In addition, Dr. Matthew D. Harder, interim dean, College of Arts and Communication, will present a sound installation based on the exhibition theme.

“Each year the Art Faculty Exhibition features a theme and this year the art faculty selected the theme of “6 X 6 X 6,” said Gallery Director Robert Villamagna. “Artworks in the exhibition may be of any media and on any subject, however, each work must be no larger than six inches in any direction.”

“Having a new theme for the exhibition each year does a number of things,” he noted, “It brings a freshness to the annual exhibition, it challenges the members of the art faculty, and it shows students how a diverse group of artists each approach a single problem or idea each in their own unique way and in a variety of media. This year the “theme” is based on size.”

Here are just a few examples of what visitors to the exhibition will see:

Associate Professor of Creative Arts Therapy Lee Ann Thill explores the physical properties of paint as a metaphor for disease processes, combining it with collage imagery to illuminate the underlying mechanisms of the exploitation of The Other. Her work represents a visual commentary on interconnected social diseases that plague our culture.

Instructor of Graphic Design Sarah Davis created “Nest: The DNA of Making,” a composite of photographs of hand-made paper nests that explore our natural desire to mate and how animals (including humans) can develop and inherit ways of making that become coded within our DNA.

A sketchbook is normally a pad of blank pages for sketching. In Professor Villamagna’s “Sketchbook” the pages are individual 6”x6” pieces of wood, and each page contains images in a variety of media. Like a traditional sketchbook, Villamagna’s pages will be a documentation of the world around him, while other pages explore his creative process.

All exhibitions at the Nutting Gallery are free and open to the public and the gallery is open 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays; with evenings and weekends by arrangement. For additional information contact Villamagna at 304-336-8370 or at rvillama@westliberty.edu

JANUARY 16, 2015 BY MAUREEN ZAMBITO
Poster design by Sara Davis