| School of Art and Art History Newsletter | The students, faculty, and alumni of the School of Art and Art History at the University of Iowa create extraordinary art and scholarship. Our monthly newsletter will keep you up to date.
Please submit your news and images for consideration for the SAAH newsletter. We'd love to share your accomplishments! | | | | Chunghi Choo (Professor Emerita in Jewelry and Metal Arts) will receive the Smithsonian Visionary Award in the spring of 2023.
Choo is a world-renowned metalsmith and jewelry artist who is best known for her works that incorporate such techniques as electroforming and electro-applique. Her work is represented in major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Musée des Arts décoratifs.
She established the metals program at the University of Iowa, which she brought to international prominence during her more than thirty years of service. Many of her students have since become critically acclaimed artists in the fields of fine arts, jewelry, textiles, metalsmithing and sculpture.
Her book Chunghi Choo and Her Students: Contemporary Art and New Forms in Metal was recently published. This volume reviews Choo's remarkable career, showing selected pieces from the last six decades of extraordinary craftsmanship that earned her status as Elected Fellow of the American Craft Council. Works by thirty former students reveal Choo's influence on a subsequent generation.
Choo will also have work in the Stanley Museum of Art’s inaugural exhibition. | | | Through a partnership between the University of Iowa Office of Community Engagement, the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History, and the City of Webster City, Iowa, Dan Miller (Associate Professor of Sculpture and Intermedia) and his students designed and constructed a “solar sculpture” that will become a permanent installation of functional art in downtown Webster City. Learn more from the Office of Community Engagement.
This public art piece incorporates dynamic elements powered by solar energy, as both an aesthetic and functional component of the installation with the intention of helping local businesses and residents better understand the potential for solar as a renewable energy source in Webster City.
The sculpture was also designed to reflect Webster City's history and identity. This project celebrates the Boone River by creating a sculpture made from stainless steel that is visually pleasing during the day and night. While the lights and sounds of this sculpture will operate during the day, in the evening the blue and green LED light will be stunning as it reflects off the ground stainless steel surfaces. This project will activate the site and create a destination where local residents can relax and engage the sculpture and space. | | | | Eve Drewelowe (1899-1988) was the first person to receive a Master of Arts degree in art from the University of Iowa in 1924. Eve Drewelowe: Painting Her Way is on view at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art through August 28, the first significant exhibition of the artist’s work since 1988.
Drewelowe’s subject matter ranged from portraits and landscapes in the 1930s and 1940s to lively abstracts on distinctive round canvases from the 1950s through the 1980s. Drewelowe’s bright palette and bold use of line was part of a distinctive style that still resonates today.
This exhibition celebrates the dramatic western landscape paintings and figural works Drewelowe in the first half of her career and to which she returned again toward the end of her life. At her death, she bequeathed nearly 1000 works of art to the School of Art and Art History.
Learn more about the exhibition and the UI Drewelowe Collection on the SAAH website. | | | JD Whitman (MFA Photography and Sculpture with Honors 2019) was invited by the EU’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to participate in their Summer School (Resonance IV on NaturArchy) as an EU expert on SciArt.
In June 2022 she joined a group of artists, JRC scientists, and EC policymakers to collaborate and explore the fertile ground and ferment visions on "NaturArchy: Towards a Natural Contract."
The aim of the Summer School was to foster transdisciplinary exchange, to create discourse, visions, narratives, and artworks that raise questions, challenge perceptions and widen awareness on the EU Green Deal.
Whitman was invited to submit a project proposal that combines research and production in view of a more extensive residency at one of the JRC sites in Europe. If selected, the proposal will be produced and showcased at the JRC, with the possibility to exhibit, subsequently, in a major European venue.
See more on Whitman's website and Instagram. | | | | Aida Audeh (PhD Art History 2002, MA 1995) retired from her position at Hamline University in December 2021 and in May 2022 was granted the status of Professor Emerita of Art History. Audeh has relocated to St Petersburg, Florida, and is enjoying the beach, the sun, and the surf. Many of Audeh's publications can be found at aidaaudeh.academia.edu. | | | Amanda Strasik (PhD Art History 2016) received promotion and tenure this year at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY. | | | | Juan Correa (MFA Printmaking 2022, MA 2021) was selected as a finalist for the AXA Art Prize, one of the leading student art competitions in the United States.
Calladito Te Ves Más Bonito was selected by curators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gagosian Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, and the Brooklyn Museum.
Forty student artists were chosen from over 500 submissions nationwide. Their work will be exhibited in-person at the New York Academy of Art in Tribeca and virtually in November.
See more of Correa's work on Instagram. | | | Aaron Lurth (MFA Photography and Graphic Design 2012) will have his photography in the permanent collection of the Figge Art Museum. The museum's acquisition board voted unanimously to add two photographs from his latest series My Paper Tiger: Carl.
Lurth currently serves as Assistant Professor of Art and Visual Communication at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. His work has been used by National Geographic, ABC, NBC, CBS, MTV.com, Time, The Des Moines Register, General Electric, CNET.com, The Iowa Review, Photography Served, The Lutheran Magazine, and many more.
Learn more in a Daily Iowan feature article and visit Lurth's website and Instagram. | | | | Kathy Dee Saville's (MA Painting and Drawing 1989) pencil and watercolor portrait titled Violetta is featured in the online gallery "Pictures of People" at the De Young Museum in San Francisco in conjunction with the exhibition Alice Neel: People Come First.
She writes: "As a young woman, Violetta fled a war torn Poland and emigrated to the Canada. On her livestream, she offers her perspective on many contemporary socio-political issues and takes on a wide range of topics. [...] I was inspired to paint her on the day she wore a Ukrainian flag pin on a plain red dress, her clear blue eyes flashing." | | | Kimberlee Rocca (BFA 1991) will be exhibiting at The ArtiFactory from August 17-September 26. Rocca will share her creative journey from foil and mixed media works into a world of wall sculpture reliefs and free-standing sculptures. Pivot is an interactive exhibit, presentation, and discussion as Rocca opens her world of creativity for hands-on exploration and visitor participation.
She writes: “Every time I see works of art I am intrigued by the process and want to do the forbidden, touch the work. I am energized by interactions with the materials and processes, which fuels my creative expression. I want people of all ages to experience that energy, even if it’s in a small way, by touching, arranging and exploring my work with their hands.”
Rocca will give a presentation about her process on September 18 in The ArtiFactory gallery space located in the lower level of the Wesley Student Center, 120 N. Dubuque Street, Iowa City.
See more on her website and Instagram.
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