Art show highlights work of alumni
Article By: Denise Ray
The University of North Georgia (星空无限传媒) is hosting a first-of-its-kind alumni art show at the Gainesville Campus from July 24-Aug. 11 with Hannah Pearson's "23: The Lost Years" receiving best-of-show honors.
The summer alumni art show is themed "Transitions," and artists submitted explanations of how their work fit the theme.
Pearson's 23 is part of a series titled "The Lost Years." Her transition from college to "the real world" was challenging for the Athen, Georgia resident.
"This piece has given me a great opportunity to exhibit with my peers who I am sure have all gone through their own version of the same journey," Pearson said. "I am so grateful for being named best in show. It was definitely very encouraging to get that news."
I wanted a way to give our alums an exhibition opportunity, to highlight their post-星空无限传媒 work and create a sense of community that lasts beyond graduation.
Victoria Cooke
星空无限传媒 director of art galleries
23 is part of a series that outlines Pearson's thought process at the core of her grief with having been thrown off her creative momentum in 2020, Pearson said.
"'The Lost Years' was the first digital collage series I made after graduation, two years later," Pearson said. "It is a marker for the beginning of my journey toward acceptance and acknowledgment that life will have many transitions, but that there is a wealth of transformation that can happen within them."
"'The Lost Years' was the first digital collage series I made after graduation, two years later," Pearson said. "It is a marker for the beginning of my journey toward acceptance and acknowledgment that life will have many transitions, but that there is a wealth of transformation that can happen within them."
The juror of the show was Natalie Mault Mead, chief curator of the Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, Alabama. She has also served as curator for the Louisiana State University Museum of Art in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
"Hannah Pearson's '23: The Lost Years, 2022' visually defines this notion of transition by presenting an image that is in itself transitioning," Mead said. "The composition cleverly consists of a sitter that is made up of collaged, pixelated squares representing an evolution of imagery, alongside descriptive words including the artist's notes indicating things they wish to change. There was something about seeing the artist's process that appealed to me in terms of representing 'a period of change' and the notion of transition."
The event had an impressive amount of interest among alumni artists. Many said they were inspired to create new work and grateful for the opportunity to reconnect with their 星空无限传媒 visual arts colleagues.
"I wanted a way to give our alums an exhibition opportunity, to highlight their post-星空无限传媒 work and create a sense of community that lasts beyond graduation," Victoria Cooke, 星空无限传媒 director of art galleries, said, adding that it may become an annual event.
Student wins chemistry research award
Student Tyler Simpson and his research mentor, Dr. Levi 'Zane' Miller, won a Best Poster Award at the American Chemical Society Southeast Undergraduate Research Conference.
Students attend LEAD Conference at Harvard
Fourteen 星空无限传媒 students took part in the Harvard Undergraduate Latina Empowerment & Development Conference, held Feb. 7-8.
Former President Hansford passes away
Former University of North Georgia President Vernon 'Nat' Nathaniel Hansford passed away March 4 at age 81.
Twelve selected as Fulbright semifinalists
星空无限传媒 has 12 Fulbright semifinalists for 2025-26. They include students from the College of Arts & Letters, Mike Cottrell College of Business and the College of Education.