| 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! | | | | Abbey Minor (Art History PhD student) is the 2023-2025 Mellon Graduate Assistant at the Stanley Museum of Art.
Over the next two years, Abbey will be part of a team that will research, document, and publish on the museum’s website the provenance of African artworks in the Stanley’s collection. | | | | Myat Aung (Art History PhD student) is combining art history and technology in her dissertation research on Ancient Roman grottoes. Using laser scanning and 3D digital modeling, Aung is able to recreate ancient environments and create a comprehensive picture of historical Roman life.
Aung traveled to Castellammare di Stabia in southern Italy to document the Villa San Marco, a Roman coastal town on the Bay of Naples, using LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology and recording sound on-site to reconstruct the sensory experience for modern audiences.
Learn more in a CLAS feature article. | | | Steve McGuire (Director and Professor of 3D Design) embarked on a 601-mile trip across Iceland in July using a bike he designed and built.
On the trip, McGuire collected climate data from various volcanic zones and glacial crossings in the country. The entirety of the course was filmed and tracked via satellite for people to view from anywhere in the world.
McGuire introduced the design, build, ride program and its related courses to the University of Iowa in 2010.
Learn more on McGuire's website and in a CLAS feature article. | | | | Jaz Graf (MFA Printmaking 2019) has a solo exhibition, Root Elevation, at Dieu Donné in Brooklyn through October 25.
Graf is the recipient of a West Bay View Foundation Fellowship in which she collaborated with artists and master papermakers to complete works in handmade paper at the Dieu Donné Paper Mill.
“I draw inspiration from Thai silks, textile patterns worn by family members, and sacred symbols. I reference palm leaf manuscripts, ceremonial flower garlands and the design motifs of the Southeast Asian landscape,” she writes.
Learn more: jazgraf.com | @jazgraf
Flower Garland (pink), 2023, artistmade paper from abaca with cotton blowout and aqueous pigment, 24"x18" | | | Katie Hargrave (MFA Intermedia 2012) and Meredith Lynn (MFA Painting and Drawing 2011) are in the group exhibition A Greater Utah at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art through January 6, 2024.
Their piece “Arches National Park (Devil’s Garden)" was selected by curator Amy Jorgensen for inclusion in the exhibition.
This exhibition includes artists living and working in Utah. The varied and collective themes explore land use, climate change, identity, Indigenous rights and practices, language, social change, marginalization, geography, and what it means to be a Utahn today.
See more of their work:
katiehargrave.com | @katie_hargrave_
meredithlauralynn.com | @meredithlauralynn
Installation photograph, A Greater Utah, July 28, 2023 – Jan 6, 2024, photo by Zachary Norman, ©UMOCA | | | | Women: hood, an exhibition organized by Satomi Kawai (MFA Jewelry and Metal Arts 2006), explores complex experiences of femininity through interviews and responsive art works.
Based in Iowa City, the collective sought and recorded interviews with seven women living in the state of Iowa and beyond.
Artists include: Satomi Kawai, Janis Bultman, Dani Sigler (BFA Ceramics with Honors 2008), and Vero Rose Smith (MA Art History 2014). Guest Artists include: Maria Cano Bribriesco and Douglas Baker.
The opening reception will take place on October 7, 6-8pm, at the Women's Resource and Action Center at the University of Iowa. Visit the project's online show in October. | | | Within Three, a sculptural exhibition by Michael Baggarly, JinMan Jo, and David Marquez, is on view at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center in Lexington, KY, through November 4.
Within Three is an ongoing conversation between the group that has spanned twenty-plus years. Connecting at the School of Art and Art History at the University of Iowa, the group found commonality in materiality, the process of labor, and a connected need for their art to act as a conduit for larger personal and societal change.
See more on the artists' websites:
Michael Baggarly (MFA Sculpture 2002)
JinMan Jo (MFA Sculpture 2003)
David Marquez (MFA Sculpture 2003)
| | | | Dean Adams (MFA Ceramics 1995) is the new Dean of the College of Arts and Architecture at Montana State University.
Adams is a tenured associate professor of art at MSU. He also co-founded the Wild Clay Project, an interdisciplinary initiative to educate people about local clay and indigenous ceramic techniques. | | | Andre' Wright (BFA Graphic Design 2005), fashion activist and founder of Wright House of Fashion in Iowa City, was recently featured in an Iowa Public Radio interview.
Wright House of Fashion serves as both a fashion house and a business incubator to provide unique, free learning opportunities to aspiring designers and artists of color.
Wright has already put on several fashion shows and held sessions in graphic design, branding, and marketing as part of a partnership with the SAAH. Follow @wrightfashionhouse to learn more. | | | |
