Winter 2020 Herron Highlights

Johnny McKee with a painting from his "Nebulous Navigation" exhibition. Michelle Craig

Every three months, we share a roundup of the latest updates from the Herron community. Here, we've captured student, alumni, and faculty highlights that took place between January and March 2020, including exhibitions, publications, career moves, accomplishments, and accolades.

However, we must also acknowledge that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic deeply impacted our community, delaying or disrupting plans in numerous ways.

  • Associate Professor Anila Agha and Samuel Levi Jones (B.F.A. Photography '09) each exhibited with Arts for Learning's third space project, which temporarily disrupts Indianapolis Public School environments and learning experiences through installations of transformative artworks created by local artists. Jones' exhibition ran from Jan. 13 to 17 at Edison School of the Arts 47 and Agha's ran from Feb. 10 to 14 at Center for Inquiry School 84.
  • Under the name of a two-person art collective, Thread Winners, Alyssa Arney (B.F.A. Printmaking '11) exhibited a collaborative crochet piece in "In Your Own Words," a group show organized by Create! Magazine. The exhibition was on view from Jan. 23 to Feb. 22 at Hastings College's Jackson Dinsdale Art Center in Nebraska.
  • Amelia Briggs (B.F.A. Painting '09) exhibited from Feb. 16 to March 29 in the group show "Space Case" at LABspace in Hillsdale, N.Y.
  • Rafael Caro, a drawing and illustration student, was selected as the inaugural recipient of the IUPUI Center for Research and Learning (CRL) Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Creative Activities. He was honored on Feb. 21 during CRL's annual award luncheon at the IUPUI University Club.
  • Deirdre Carter, an adjunct instructor of art history, presented a lecture to art department students at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona on Feb. 13, titled "Relics of Identity: Illustrations of the Treasures of Medieval St. Albans Abbey." Carter also hosted a mentoring session during her visit for the university's art history students.
  • Art education student Emily Crowel was among 33 Indiana women selected to serve as this year's 500 Festival Princesses, representing the state's most civic-minded, academically driven young women. Crowel will participate in the 500 Festival Leadership Development Program, which empowers participants to make a profound impact within their community and Indiana.
  • Leena Dobouni, Madysen Koontz, Jocelyn Paul, Claire Patnaude, Pim Ruby, Lisa Sears, Taylor Welker, and Hannah Westbrook exhibited their student work, beginning Feb. 7, at Indianapolis-based law firm Barnes and Thornburg.
  • Lorrie Fredette (B.F.A. Sculpture '90) exhibited in "Unsustainable: A Planet in Crisis," a group show from Jan. 9 to Feb. 16 at the University of Tennessee's Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture in Knoxville.
  • Xiaoman "Joy" Gu, an integrative studio practices student, was selected to create editioned prints for the 2020 IUPUI Spirit of Philanthropy Award. Additionally, IUPUI University Library commissioned her to create a sculpture for the library's 45-foot atrium. The sculpture will be on view from Sept. 1 through Aug. 31, 2021.
  • Associate Professor Laura Holzman and Assistant Professor Eileen Misluk each presented sessions during the 108th Annual College Art Association (CAA) Conference, held from Feb. 12 to 15 in Chicago. Holzman spoke about the outcomes of an art history course, where students conducted original research sourced from the Indianapolis Museum of Art Archives at Newfields. Misluk spoke about the benefits of housing a graduate art therapy program in an art and design school, and how art therapy provides different approaches to making and understanding art.
  • Associate Professors Laura Holzman and Pamela Napier co-organized and facilitated public dialogue with Jason M. Kelly for the 2020 Art+Ethics Seminars as part of IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute's Cultural Ecologies Project.
  • Barbara Horlander (B.F.A. Painting '15) exhibited sculptural paintings from Feb. 22 to March 21 in "SEXY UGLY," a solo show at Ro2 Art's Cedars Gallery in Dallas.
  • Associate Professor Robert Horvath received a grant supporting research and creative activity from the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute to create a new series of amorphic ceramic sculptures.
  • On Jan. 25, Associate Professor Katie Hudnall spoke on a panel discussion for the exhibition "Making a Seat at the Table: Women Transform Woodworking," held at the Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia. Hudnall presented her work on Feb. 6 at Maine College of Art (MECA) as part of their Visiting Artist and Guest Lecturer Series. During her visit, she conducted one-on-one studio critiques with MECA's woodworking and furniture design students. Hudnall's work was also selected for inclusion in the American Association of Woodturner's annual professional exhibition, "Nature/Nurture," at the the Gallery of Wood Art in Saint Paul, Minn.
  • Matthew Huntley's (B.F.A. Painting '16) painting "The Shepherdess Tends Her Flock" was accepted into Infected By Art, a juried competition of the very best imaginative realism artworks, and will be included in Volume 8 of the print publication.
  • Sam Ladwig (M.F.A. Visual Art '14) was featured in the Furniture Society's February email newsletter. Learn more about Ladwig's work via his member profile.
  • Associate Professor Jennifer Lee co-presented a session on integrative learning with Suzann W. Lupton, assistant dean of the Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, during the Association of American Colleges and Universities' 2020 Conference on General Education, Pedagogy, and Assessment, held from Feb. 20 to 22 in Jacksonville, Fla.
  • Co-facilitated by Adjunct Instructor Chelsea Leeds and Assistant Professor Eileen Misluk, art therapy graduate students Angi Aldrich, Katy Bradberry, Amanda Dunn, Emile Gore, Shawn Haymaker, Brooke Mourey, Mikayla Powlen, Alena Sentir, Macey Smith, Gabby Towne, and Flannery Vaught developed therapeutic art-making activities for Indiana State Museum's exhibition "FIX: Heartbreak and Hope Inside Our Opioid Crisis." The students led museum activities on several Saturdays throughout the spring semester. "FIX" also included two art installations, one created by Philip Campbell (B.F.A. General Fine Arts '89) and another co-created by Associate Professor Laura Holzman and her collaborator, Meredith Brickell. The exhibition opened Feb. 1 and continues through Feb. 7, 2021.
  • Rachel Linnemeier (B.F.A. Painting '13) exhibited in the group show "Story Tellers" at Flinders Lane Gallery in Melbourne, Australia. Paintings from the exhibition, which was scheduled from March 31 to April 24, are viewable online through the gallery's website and Instagram account.
  • Johnny McKee (B.F.A. Photography '97) exhibited from Jan. 3 to 31 in "Nebulous Navigation," a solo show at the Harrison Center for the Arts in Indianapolis.
  • Mark D. McKenzie (B.F.A. General Fine Arts '99) aka Mac Blackout painted a series of murals for the House of Vans in Chicago.
  • As the 2020 Clowes Visiting Artist, Kimberly McNeelan (M.F.A. Visual Art '17) taught a one-month class, "Design and Function in Woodworking," at Franklin College during their Immersive Term in January. McNeelan also exhibited her work from Jan. 23 to Feb. 18 in the college's Johnson Center for Fine Arts and presented an artist's talk during the closing reception. Read a story in Johnson County's Daily Journal about her experience.
  • In February, AIGA's Indianapolis chapter spotlighted Associate Professor Pamela Napier in a weekly "Member Monday" Q&A.
  • Visiting Lecturer Asli Narin was featured in the fourth episode of "Izler Suretler" on TRT 2, Turkey's culture and arts channel. With each episode, the documentary television series highlights the artistic practices of contemporary Turkish photographers.
  • Casey Roberts (B.F.A. Photography) exhibited from Feb. 7 to March 1 in the group show "Compositions in Nature" at Dianna Witte Gallery in Toronto, Ontario. 
  • Dominic Sansone (M.F.A. Visual Art '10) exhibited from Jan. 9 to Feb. 8 in "Badlands" at BSB Gallery in Trenton, N.J.
  • Marna Shopoff (M.F.A. Visual Art '14) participated in the Billboard Creative's sixth exhibition, which brings large-format art to 34 billboards across Los Angeles. Her "Color Correction" painting was displayed from Feb. 6 to 29 at the intersection of Vine Street and Santa Monica Boulevard.
  • IUPUI's Office of Student Employment featured Hailee Smith, a drawing and illustration senior, as their student employee of the month. Watch a video to learn more about her involvement with Herron's Think It Make It Lab as a work-study technician.
  • Assistant Professor and Edgar and Dorothy Fehnel Chair in International Studies Uranchimeg Tsultem contributed a chapter titled "The Internal Regulations of Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar" in the book "Sources of Mongolian Buddhism," published by Oxford University Press. She also received a New Frontiers Exploratory Travel Fellowship in January for her project "Asian Themes in the Art of Nam June Paik."
  • In January, Fran Valentine (B.A. Art History '02) was named the director of operations for the IU Center for Aging Research at Regenstrief Institute.
  • Paul Williams, an integrative studio practice student, was selected to design and produce gifts for up to 50 IUPUI faculty members retiring at the end of the spring semester.
  • Priya Wittman (M.F.A. Visual Art '15) exhibited recent installation works in "Stormy Weather" from Jan. 3 to 24 at Efroymson Gallery in Indianapolis.

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

Recent stories