Art Department

ENRICHING ARTS AT PSU AND IN THE COMMUNITY

The art department of Plymouth State University has a long tradition of inviting guest artists and scholars to campus through our studio art, graphic design, art education, art history, and Karl Drerup Art Gallery and Exhibitions programs. Over the years, scholars, painters, printmakers, sculptors, ceramicists, photographers, designers and other artists have helped enrich PSU’s learning community and broaden students’ exposure to professional artists and scholars, their work, and their perspectives.

Our new Visiting Artist Program builds on this tradition by presenting more opportunities for visiting artists, art scholars, and guest speakers of regional and national repute to interact with students, faculty, staff, and our broader community through courses and workshops, critiques, exhibitions of their own work, and public presentations throughout the year.

INSPIRATION AND OUTREACH

Each semester, the Visiting Artist Program expands the size and scope of the University’s art faculty. Visiting artists are chosen not only for the quality of their work and their ability to engage with students, but also for their ability to complement the interests and expertise of the art faculty, all of whom are talented artists and excellent educators. Through the program, students have the opportunity to learn about current art making trends while gaining a greater perspective on the art world and potential for their own art work. Additionally, visiting artists offer students the chance to learn more about living and working in the arts, and can model multiple approaches to careers in the field.

In keeping with PSU’s mission to extend opportunities for cultural enrichment to the community, the Visiting Artist Program offers numerous opportunities for community participation. Through the Visiting Artist Program events, community members are inspired to reach beyond what they know about art, explore new ideas, and interact with PSU students, faculty, staff, and guest artists.

As this new program develops, PSU’s art department aims to build a core network of visiting artists to teach at both the undergraduate and graduate levels; offer critiques of student work; make public presentations; and exhibit their work during the fall and spring semesters, as well as during summer sessions. The Visiting Artist Program’s success will be marked by the cultivation and sustenance of meaningful relationships among visiting artists and PSU students, faculty, and staff; community members; and arts organizations throughout the region.

DEPARTMENT MISSION

Plymouth State University’s art department is dedicated to providing an eclectic program that encourages the study of histories, theories, criticisms, and the making of visual art and design. The department is committed to building a comprehensive and substantive foundation of skills and knowledge within and across the disciplines; to cultivating each student’s individual creative spirit and voice; and to nurturing respect for humanistic and multi-aesthetic values and creative processes. We value the richness of diversity: cultural, academic, and individual, and are continually seeking ways to broaden our connections across the University, to promote service to our regional community, and to enrich the lives of our students, who are at the heart of our teaching and learning.

ABOUT PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY

Plymouth State University is a regional comprehensive university offering a rich, student-focused learning environment for both undergraduate and graduate students. PSU offers more than 40 majors and 60 minors in programs that include education, business, humanities, arts, and natural and social sciences. The College of Graduate Studies offers coursework that promotes research, best practices, and reflection in locations on- and off-campus as well as online. For non-traditional students, PSU’s Frost School of Continuing and Professional Studies offers working professionals opportunities to pursue an undergraduate degree by attending classes in the evenings, weekends, and online. Located in a beautiful New England setting, Plymouth State University has been recognized as one of the “Best in the Northeast” by The Princeton Review.

For more information about the Visiting Artist Program at Plymouth State University, and how you can support this new program, please contact:

Jason Swift

Art Department, MSC 21

Plymouth State University

17 High Street

Plymouth, NH 03264-1595

(603) 535-2201 or jaswift2@mail.plymouth.edu

ARTISTS AND GUESTS

Former guest artists and speakers have included:

Sigmund Abeles, figure drawing

Adrian Arleo, figure sculpture

Kim Bernard, sculpture and ceramics

Arthur Ganson, kinetic sculpture

Don Gorvett, reduction woodblock

Art Hazelwood, woodblock, linoleum block, etching

John Jacobsmeyer, egg tempera

Nicholas Joerling, ceramic forms and vessels

C.M. Judge, multi-media installations

Kristen Kieffer, ceramics

Kathy King, ceramic surfaces and narratives

Peter London, art education

Michelle Marcuse, encaustic

Susan Mills, mixed media

Arno Minkkinen, photography

Dore Page, letterpress

Marjorie Portnow, landscape painting

Carolyn Shattuck, book arts

SOL’SAX, mixed media

Jane Weston, graphic design

Elsbeth Woody, ceramic sculpture

Joyce Zavorskas, monotype