Fall 2019 Herron Highlights

Every three months, we share a roundup of the latest updates from the Herron community. Here, we've captured the highlights, including exhibitions, publications, career moves, accomplishments, and accolades from our students, alumni, and faculty that took place between October and December 2019.

• Associate Professor Anila Agha's latest solo exhibition, "Between Light and Shadow," opened Oct. 19, 2019, at Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio and remains on view through Feb. 9, 2020. She was interviewed by Kyle Long for an episode of WFYI's Cultural Manifesto, which aired on Dec. 12, 2019. Agha also exhibited in "Transcendent: Spirituality in Contemporary Art," a group show at Burlington City Arts Center in Vermont, which opened Oct. 18, 2019, and continues through Feb. 8, and "Shadow of Time," a solo exhibition at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which opened Nov. 10, 2019, and continues through Feb. 16.

• Amelia Briggs (B.F.A. Painting '09) curated the SECAC (formerly known as the Southeastern College Art Conference) 2019 Juried Exhibition. The exhibition was on view at Stove Works from Sept. 24 to Oct. 19, during the annual conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

• Jenness Cortez (B.F.A. Painting '68) exhibited her contemporary realist paintings in "New York Stories" at Cavalier Gallery in New York, New York, from Nov. 21 to Dec. 31, 2019.

• Included among 40 artists awarded 2020-21 Creative Renewal Arts Fellowships by the Arts Council of Indianapolis were Jeffrey Dalton, adjunct instructor of foundation studies, Valerie Eickmeier, professor of sculpture, Katie Hudnall, associate professor of furniture design, and Craig McDaniel, professor of drawing and illustration and foundation studies, as well as alumni Katrina Murray (B.F.A. Painting '12), Ashley Robinson (B.F.A. Furniture Design '10), and Susan Tennant (M.F.A. Visual Art '10).

• During the 2019 National Learning Communities Conference, held on Nov. 14 to 16 at the Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel at Keystone Crossing, Senior Lecturer Stephanie Doty co-presented the session "Developing Design Thinking and Self-Expression in Exploratory Students" with IU School of Liberal Arts Lecturer Sumana Jogi and University College Lecturer Joan Pedersen.

• Eight Herron artists exhibited in Aurora PhotoCenter's group show "Is Everyday Extraordinary?," including undergraduate students Kyle Englert and Claire Hegge, Photography Technician Benjamin Martinkus, Visiting Lecturer Asli Narin, and adjunct instructors Chris Hill (M.F.A. Visual Art '16), Jared Landberg, and Erin Harper Vernon (B.F.A. Photography '03). The exhibition ran from Nov. 1 to 22, 2019, at Gallery 924 in Indianapolis.

• Timothy Faris (M.F.A. Visual Art '19) exhibited in "Fall Creek: A Look at Art and the Environment" at Central Library in Indianapolis as part of the Humanities Action Lab's Climates of Inequality project with 22 universities nationwide. Faris's photography exhibition opened Dec. 5, 2019, and remains on view through Jan. 25.

• Justin Ginther (B.F.A. Visual Communication '90) joined the Indianapolis-based strategic branding and advertising firm Matchbook as Creative Director.

• Stacey Holloway (B.F.A. Sculpture '06) exhibited her recent installation works and sculptural stills in "Falter," a solo show on view from Oct. 5 to Nov. 30, 2019, at the Walnut Gallery in Gadsen, Alabama.

• Associate Professor Laura Holzman published an article for The Conversation explaining why a Bronx stairway highlights tensions of film-related tourism, and "Isn't It Time for Art History to Go Public?" for Panorama, the official journal of the Association of Historians of American Art. Holzman's guest-edited Panorama article was part of the journal issue's "Bully Pulpit" roundtable series incorporating five responses on the importance of public scholarship and engaged art history. Holzman also spoke with Indiana Lawyer about the removal of Roger Taney's name from a mural on display in the Indianapolis courthouse of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

• During the Collaborating Across Borders VII Conference, Professor Youngbok Hong co-presented a session on developing an innovative interprofessional education initiative between IU School of Nursing, IU School of Informatics and Computing, IU School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and Purdue School of Engineering and Technology. The conference was held on Oct. 20 to 23, 2019, at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis.

• Associate Professor Katie Hudnall exhibited in "Making A Seat at the Table: Women Transform Woodworking" at the Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The group show opened Oct. 4, 2019, and remains on view through Jan. 18. Popular Woodworking spotlighted Hudnall as one of the 43 fine woodworkers showcased in the exhibition.

• In November, Governor Eric Holcomb appointed to the Indiana Arts Commission, Greg Hull, the Valerie Eickmeier Professor in Sculpture, who will serve as a commissioner through June 30.

• Samuel Levi Jones (B.F.A. Photography '09) spoke about his studio practice in conversation with San Francisco-based art collector Pamela Joyner on episode 4 of Galerie Lelong & Co.'s new podcast, Viewpoints. Listen to the podcast episode via SoundCloud. Additionally, Jones spoke on a panel discussion about interdisciplinary artistic approaches to "the matter of atrocity" with artist Torkwase Dyson and Hunter College Assistant Professor Nijah Cunningham, Ph.D., at Galerie Lelong & Co. in New York, New York.

• Morgan Kissel (B.F.A. Photography '19) was promoted to Display Experience Lead at Anthropologie's Colorado Springs location. In her new full-time role as an in-house artist, Kissel will curate and craft a compelling environment through the application of floor and window displays.

• With support from the Lilly Endowment's Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program, Phil Lamie (M.A.E. Art Education '00) organized the exhibition "Making Faces" featuring portraits created by his Towne Meadow Elementary School students. The exhibition was on view from Nov. 3 to Dec. 1, 2019, at the World's Smallest Children's Art Gallery in Carmel, Indiana. Learn more about Lamie's collaborative art project via a YouTube video.

• Skyler Lawson (B.F.A. Visual Communication Design '12) debuted his feature film "Whelm," a thriller set in the Great Depression, at the Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis. Lawson discussed the making of "Whelm" and shooting entirely on Kodak 16mm film during a panel discussion on Oct. 13, 2019, at Newfields, before the film's world premiere. Read an IUPUI story to learn how Lawson jumped from advertising to filmmaking.

• Associate Professor Jennifer Lee presented on the topic of "The Merchants' Saint: Thomas Becket among the Merchants of Hamburg" on Dec. 13, 2019, during an art history convening at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, organized by Courtauld Senior Lecturer in Medieval Art and Architecture Tom Nickson. The research Lee presented will be published next summer in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association. Additionally, her essay "'Reckless effrontery': Conflict and the Abuse of Badges in Late Medieval England" was published in The Mediaeval Journal, edited by Ann Marie Rasmussen and Hanneke van Asperen.

• Anna Martinez (B.F.A. Painting '13) exhibited from Nov. 6 to 24, 2019, with Berlin-based artist Katja Strunz in "Space/Void," presented by Indianapolis Contemporary at Ash and Elm's event space in Indianapolis, Indiana.

• In December, Herron bid farewell to four faculty members – Craig McDaniel, David Morrison, Kathleen O'Connell, and Jean Robertson – who have made outstanding impacts on the school in their collective 104 years of service. The Herron community held a celebration in their honor on the evening of Dec. 10, 2019, in recognition of their academic contributions.

• Reflecting on their teaching experiences at Herron and IUPUI, Professor Craig McDaniel and Chancellor's Professor Jean Robertson co-presented the 2019 Last Lecture on Nov. 1 in the IUPUI Campus Center Theater. It was the first time a faculty couple have shared the stage, and the first time a Herron faculty member has presented a Last Lecture. Read an Inside IUPUI Q&A with McDaniel and Robertson, then watch the lecture (scroll to the bottom).

• IU Studios featured Gallery Director and Curator Joseph Mella in their new YouTube series IUPUI Explains, discussing how Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" impacts both the casual viewer as well as today's artists. Watch the video.

• Maria Meschi (M.F.A. Visual Communication Design '19) and Stephany Stamatis (M.F.A. Visual Communication Design '18) led breakout sessions for leaders and practitioners from all sectors and backgrounds during Centric Indiana's Day of Innovation, held on Oct. 17, 2019, at Butler University in Indianapolis. Meschi's session focused on using improv to ignite innovation and Stamatis' focused on engaging people who are resistant to change.

• During the 2019 Dystopie Sound Art Festival from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, Assistant Professor Gurkan Mihci exhibited "415.0Wh," a data visualization project created during his 2016 residency aboard Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrier vessel, at Istanbul Technical University's Centre for Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM) Gallery in Istanbul, Turkey.

• IUPUI's Office of Academic Affairs and Center for Teaching and Learning awarded Assistant Professor Gurkan Mihci and Senior Lecturer Sherry Stone the inaugural Faculty Crossing residencies as Herron teaching residents. Mihci and Stone will offer teaching workshops at the Crossing, located on the first floor of University Library, and exhibit their artwork in the space throughout the semester. Stone's appointment begins Jan. 13 and Mihci's begins Aug. 24.

• Katrina J. Murray (B.F.A. Painting '12) exhibited new works from Oct. 4 to 25, 2019, in "Rock, Paper, Hammer" at Circle City Industrial Complex in Indianapolis.

• While participating in this year's Istanbul Biennial, Visiting Lecturer Asli Narin put her artistic research practice to work as part of a brainstorming session with people from various sectors, including art, design, agriculture, and public policy. The aim of the session was to understand and envision ecological changes and issues around food production through the lenses of potato farming and political activism. Narin also exhibited from Oct. 17 to Nov. 30, 2019, in the group exhibition "LENS '19 Things Seen" at Mixer in Istanbul, Turkey.

• Jordan Nelsen (B.F.A. Drawing & Illustration '18) worked collaboratively with IU School of Informatics and Computing Lecturer Zeb Wood and Victor Leung, pipeline engineer at Magic Leap, to create ScavengeAR, a mobile augmented reality gaming experience developed for SIGGRAPH 2019. Learn more about the app via two Q&As, one with Nelsen and one with the team.

• The Herald-Times featured the work of Jenny Ollikainen (B.F.A. Sculpture '10), who is planning a show this summer at Big Car Collaborative's Tube Factory Artspace in Indianapolis.

• From Oct. 10 to 25, 2019, Associate Professor Stefan Petranek exhibited in "Artful Reunion," a four-person group show at Rochester Institute of Technology's William Harris Gallery in New York. He also exhibited at Herron from Nov. 18 to Dec. 18, 2019, in "The Future is Broken," featuring a new series of augmented multimedia landscapes created during his sabbatical year. 

• Keeara Rhoades (B.F.A. Photography '05) exhibited new media works in "The Prize Inside" at Montana State University's Northcutt Steele Gallery from Oct. 10 to Nov. 7, 2019.

• Chancellor's Professor Jean Robertson presented a talk on Dec. 5, 2019, at the University of Wyoming about the fourth edition of her book "Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art After 1980," co-authored in partnership with Craig McDaniel and published by Oxford University Press. Robertson discussed the book's ideation, she and McDaniel's co-research methods, and their selection of artists.

• Joshua Ross (B.F.A. Photography '15) exhibited in "Loitering is Delightful" at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, which opened Oct. 31, 2019, and continues through Jan. 12.

• Seattle-based photographer Autumn Schrock (B.F.A. Photography '12) joined the Sony Alpha Imaging Collective as one of the creative community's ambassadors, who continue to push the limits of digital imaging.

• Associate Professor Meredith Setser exhibited from Nov. 4 to 8, 2019, as part of Arts for Learning's third space project at the IPS/Butler University Lab School 60. Setser's one-week, site-specific installation was paired with an Arts for Learning teaching artist, Melli Hoppe, who led student workshops based on curriculum developed in partnership with the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art.

• Jennifer Shivers (M.F.A. Visual Communication Design '12) was among more than a dozen Regenstrief Institute researchers to participate in panels and workshops during the American Medical Informatics Association 2019 Annual Symposium, held on Nov. 16 to 20 in Washington, D.C. She was a panelist on the presentation "HCD and HIT Modernization: Engagement of End Users in Health IT Modernization through Human-Centered Design."

• Marna Shopoff (M.F.A. Visual Art '17) exhibited in Pamela Walsh Gallery's booth during Texas Contemporary, held on Oct. 10 to 13, 2019, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The international art fair's executive committee selected Shopoff's painting "141" as one of the featured public art installations. Shopoff also exhibited from Nov. 16 to Dec. 31, 2019, in Pamela Walsh Gallery's inaugural exhibition, "GRAND: The Significance of Scale," in Palo Alto, California.

• Jenny Tod (B.F.A. Visual Communication Design '12) illustrated “Brunch, Brunch Baby!,” a children's alphabet book written by Jordan Jeran. The book was published on Nov. 10, 2019.

• Assistant Professor and Edgar and Dorothy Fehnel Chair in International Studies Uranchimeg Tsultem presented three public lectures this fall: "Sky and Earth: Exploring the Non-Buddhist Religious Traditions of Mongolia" during Asia Week San Francisco Bay Area, held on Oct. 3 to 13, 2019; "The Mighty Géluk: Their Emergence and Domination in Khalkha Mongolia" on Nov. 14, 2019, at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies; and a talk on Dec. 18, 2019, in conjunction with an exhibition about Zanabazar, one of Mongolia's most wellknown sculptors, at the National Museum of Mongolia. "Mongol Zurag: The Art of Everyday," an exhibition Tsultem curated featuring the artwork of Uurintuya Dagvasambuu and Baasanjav Choijiljav, ran from Oct. 13 through Nov. 13, 2019, at SAPAR Contemporary in New York, New York.

• Samuel Vazquez (B.F.A. Visual Communication '10) was a guest panelist during the 2019 Indiana Arts Homecoming conference, held on Oct. 24 to 25 in Indianapolis. Vazquez discussed representation and embracing different perspectives as part of the "Courageous Conversations in the Visual Arts" session centered on African-American artist and Indianapolis native Felrath Hines. Vazquez also self-published "INCISIVE," a 144-page publication about his visual arts path and studio practice.

Want to be featured in the next Herron highlights roundup? Submit your news via our online form or email herrext@iupui.edu.