Winter 2021 Herron Highlights

Every three months, we share a roundup of the most recent Herron community updates. We've compiled a list of student, alumni, and faculty highlights that took place from January to March 2021, including exhibitions, publications, career moves, accomplishments, and accolades.

• Linda Adeniyi (M.A. Art Therapy '14), who served in the military in the Middle East and has helped people heal from traumatic experiences, was featured in an IU Health story introducing her as their newest art therapist.

• Associate Professor Anila Agha discussed her artistic practice during a virtual artist's talk hosted by the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at IU Bloomington on March 6. Agha was also one of 30 artists featured in "Light Upon Light: Light Art Since 1960" during Noor Riyadh, a citywide annual festival in Saudi Arabia that began on March 18 and will run until June 12. She also exhibited in a three-person exhibition at the Gallery at the University of Texas at Arlington from Feb. 15 to April 3.

• Emily Archer, a graduate student in Herron's visual arts program, exhibited in the Bloomington chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters' 2021 Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition. Her piece "Playful Toxicity" received with the Jane Otten Merit Award.

• Karen Baldner, adjunct instructor of printmaking, exhibited her work in the 2021 National Juried Exhibition at the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Educational Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. The exhibition opened on April 9 and will remain on view until May 22. In addition, on April 10, Baldner co-presented a talk titled "Re-imagining the Local" during the Indiana Studies Style of the State symposium.

• Tasha Beckwith (B.F.A. General Fine Arts '06) was interviewed by the Indianapolis Star about her mural, "Entrepreneurs Awakening: The Making of a Legacy," at Indianapolis International Airport, which features Madam Walker. The mural is on currently display in Civic Plaza inside the airport terminal and is expected to be on display well into 2022. In addition, Beckwith debuted "Seasons Nouveau," an eight-part banner series, on the Edge Parking Garage in downtown Fishers. On the City of Fishers' YouTube channel, you can watch a video about the project.

• Amelia Briggs (B.F.A. Painting '09) exhibited her work in "Exclamation Point," a group show at Union Hall in Denver, Colorado, from Jan. 21 to Feb. 13.

• Rafael Caro (B.F.A. Drawing & Illustration '20), Erica Parker (B.F.A. Integrative Studio Practice '16), and Hailee Smith (B.F.A. Drawing & Illustration '20) spoke with Broad Ripple Random Ripplings about cofounding Chromatic Collective, a gallery space at 6216 Carrollton Avenue that will open to the public on April 2.

• Aaron S. Coleman (B.F.A. Printmaking '09), an associate professor at the University of Arizona, used his art to continue the conversation beyond Black History Month, according to KOLD News 13. In addition, Komechak Art Gallery at Benedictine University presented "Monumental Shadows," a virtual exhibition of Coleman's work.

• Herron alumnus Matthew Cooper was named a 2021 Art and Soul Featured Artist in February, and his work was displayed in the windows of Gallery 924 at the Arts Council of Indianapolis. He was featured in an article in the Indianapolis Star.

• Research by DeeDee Davis, Herron Art Library's digital scholarship services specialist, was featured in an Indianapolis Star story about the Indiana Historical Society exhibit "Lost Landmarks of Indianapolis," which is on display until April 17.

• Jingo M. de la Rosa, an adjunct instructor of drawing and illustration, exhibited his sketches at 8th Day Distillery in downtown Indianapolis throughout the month of March. In addition, "ABCs in Indianapolis," a children's book illustrated by de la Rosa, was successfully funded on Kickstarter, and the funds will be used to cover printing costs. 

• The Quintana Behringer Spring Collection, curated by the Indianapolis-based arts marketing and management duo Tony Quintana and Maria Behringer, featured works by Professor Valerie Eickmeier, Associate Professor Stefan Petranek, and Adjunct Instructor Melissa Parrott Quimby.

• Laurie Eldridge (B.F.A. Ceramics '86), an art teacher at Ira A. Murphy Elementary School in Peoria, Arizona, received the U.S. Society for Education through Art's 2021 Excellence in PreK-12 Art Education Award.

• Along with several staff members, Associate Professor and Fine Arts Department Chair Vance Farrow, Lecturer Lowell Isaac, and adjunct instructors Kyle Latino and Jingo de la Rosa worked with 43 juniors and senior Connor Stump of Herron's drawing and illustration program to produce "Color Your Campus – IUPUI," an 88-page coloring book. It was published by IU Press in early February and is available for purchase for $14 wherever books are sold.

• Andrea Haydon (B.F.A. Visual Communication Design '11) spoke with the Indianapolis Business Journal in March about starting her own business after losing her job unexpectedly. Read the story and listen her speak on an episode of the IBJ podcast. 

• The Herron Galleries hosted "Creativity vs. COVID: Ending the Pandemic for Good," a virtual exhibition curated by Associate Professor Laura Holzman, a public scholar of curatorial practices and visual art, which opened on March 24 and will remain on view until May 9. Read a story to learn more about how the exhibition uses artistic activism to communicate vaccine needs. Holzman also contributed two chapters to the book "Socially Engaged Art History and Beyond: Alternative Approaches to the Theory and Practice of Art History," which was published in March by Palgrave Macmillan; a chapter to the book "Teachable Monuments: Using Public Art to Spark Dialogue and Confront Controversy," which was published in March by Bloomsbury; as well as drawings to "COVIDChronicles: A Comics Anthology," which was published in February by graphic mundi, an imprint of the Penn State University Press.

• Professor Youngbok Hong was one of nine IU faculty members and one doctoral student honored with the 2021 Distinguished Teaching and Service Awards. Hong received the Thomas Ehrlich Service Learning Award for advancing students' learning by integrating community and public service into her teaching.

• Associate Professor Robert Horvath exhibited new ceramic works at Erin Cluley Gallery in Dallas, Texas. His exhibition, "A Veritable Minefield of Useless Information," opened on Feb. 27 and will remain on view until April 3.

• As part of an IUPUI Faculty Crossing lecture series, Lowell Isaac, lecturer of drawing and illustration, presented on the topic of teaching virtually in the pandemic era. He shared a few useful pedagogical techniques in the hopes that other instructors will find them useful.

• Yasmine Kasem (B.F.A. Sculpture '15) was featured in an article in The San Diego Union-Tribune about the merger of Lux Art Institute and San Diego Art Institute to form the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego.

• Jennifer Lee, associate professor of art history, took part in a European Encounters virtual meetup on Jan. 20 with Hanna Wimmer from Universität Hamburg, who discussed art and artistic exchanges in Medieval Hanseatic cities. View the recording via IU Europe Gateway's Facebook page.

• Emily Lemke, a drawing and illustration student at Herron, received the IUPUI Undergraduate Outstanding Achievement in Creative Activity Award, which recognizes students whose high-quality creative work has been disseminated or exhibited to a broad audience.

• "Captivated: The Art of Ikki Matsumoto," a 156-page book containing the whimsically stylized animals and landscapes of Ikki Matsumoto, an acclaimed artist and Herron alumnus, was published in January. Learn more about the book that brings together a lifetime of the beloved Southwest Florida artist's work.

• During the 42nd Annual Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference in February and the B-Film PGR Symposium  on March 4, Assistant Professor Gürkan Maruf Mihçi gave a presentation titled "Turkish Fantastic Cinema between 1950-1985." He also presented a paper titled "A Digital Game for Creativity as a Workshop" at the 15th International Conference on Design Principles and Practice, which was held virtually from March 3 to 5 by the University of Monterrey in Mexico.

• Assistant Professor Eileen Misluk's article, "The Benefits of Art Therapy in Eating Disorder Treatment," was published in Volume 21 Issue 1 of Eating Disorders Review, the Clinical Journal by the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals.

• Ben Murray (B.F.A. Painting '11) exhibited works in a solo exhibition, "If I Needed You," from Jan. 9 to Feb. 13 at Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago, Illinois.

• Melissa Parrott Quimby, adjunct instructor of art therapy, foundation studies, and elective arts, displayed her work in one of 50 outdoor sidewalk art galleries as part of "Swish," an arts and cultural festival in put on by the Arts Council of Indianapolis during the NCAA March Madness tournament. Parrott Quimby also exhibited a collaged protest sign in "The Sum of Unity" at the Herron Galleries. 

• During the College Art Association's 109th Annual Conference, which took place online from Feb. 10 to 13, Chancellor's Professor Emerita Jean Robertson co-chaired a session titled "Towards a More Global Art History Survey: Tips For Developing a More Equitable Syllabus." Assistant Professor Uranchimeg Tsultem also presented a paper in the session titled "In and Out of Place: Migration, Memory, and Citizenship in 21st-Century Asian Art."

• Jordan Ryan (B.A. Art History '10), architectural historian, archivist, activist-scholar, and principal owner of The History Concierge, gave a virtual talk for CreativeMornings Indianapolis on the theme of "ripple" on March 26.

• Madison Stevens (B.F.A. Visual Communication Design '17), market requirements manager at Cummins, joined the Board of Directors of AIGA Indianapolis as the new programming chair.

• In a Codelicious Confidence Builders video interview, Jenny Tod (B.F.A. Visual Communication Design '12) discussed her work as a designer and how it relates to computer science.

• Assistant Professor Uranchimeg Tsultem, the Edgar and Dorothy Fehnel chair in international studies, delivered a virtual lecture titled "The Visible and Invisible in the Art of Zanabazar" on Feb. 19 as part of the Society for Asian Arts' "Arts of Asia Spring 2021" lecture series. Tsultem also took part in a panel discussion titled "Global Perspectives on Pre-modern Devotional Arts" as part of the University of Michigan's International Institute Conference on Arts of Devotion, which was held virtually on March 4, and gave a talk titled "Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Art of Mongolia" on March 11 at the Society for Asian Art.

• Colin Tury's (M.F.A. Visual Art '14) design for the Brunswick Billiards Gold Crown VI pool table was granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, as part of an industry-sponsored collaboration between the company and Herron's Basile Center for Art, Design, and Public Life.

• Traditional Arts Indiana announced its 2021 Apprenticeship Teams, with Beatriz Vásquez (B.F.A. General Fine Arts '06) as one of seven participating artists. Throughout the year, Vásquez will pass on her knowledge and adaptations of traditional Mexican papel picado technique to her daughter, Isabel Schlebeck.

• Samuel E. Vasquez (B.F.A. Visual Communication Design '10) exhibited his work alongside Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell and Sam Francis in "Driven to Abstraction," a virtual group show presented by Long-Sharp Gallery in Indianapolis. The exhibition opened on Feb. 25 and will remain on view until July 1.

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