Posted: Thursday, February 16, 2012 3:26 pm Miami News Record

MANY NATIONS, ONE COLLEGE / NEO dedicates flag plazaBy Jim Ellisjim.ellis@miaminewsrecord.comMiami News Record | 0 comments

Ten local tribes are included in a flag plaza that is located in front of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M’s new residence hall.

Dedication ceremonies for the plaza, located at the corner of Central and I streets, were held Wednesday morning.

“It’s just a phenomenal thing for our tribe,” Ottawa Chief Ethel Cook said during the ceremony. “We are so pleased to have it sitting in our area.”

The Ottawa, Miami, Peoria, Eastern Shawnee, Modoc, Quapaw, Seneca Cayuga, Shawnee, Wyandotte and Cherokee tribes are represented by a flag and plaque.

In addition to Cook, other tribal leaders participating in the ceremony were Deputy Chief Joe Crittenden of the Cherokee Nation, Eastern Shawnee Chief Glenna Wallace, Miami Chief Tom Gamble, Modoc Second Chief Judy Cobb, Peoria Chief John Froman, Quapaw business committee member T.C. Bear, Seneca-Cayuga Chief Leroy Howard, Shawnee Chief Ron Sparkman and Wyandotte Chief Billy Friend.

Students assisting with the flag raising ceremony (and their tribal affiliation) were Taylor Tanner (Cherokee) of Grove, Cherokee; Cameron Sund (Eastern Shawnee), Eastern Shawnee; Cate Coyle (Creek) of Sperry, Miami; Paige Perdasofy (Comanche) of Bartlesville, Modoc; Spencer Donnel (Delaware) of Bartlesville, Ottawa; Jared Liston (Peoria) of Bartlesville, Peoria; Robyn Rulo (Osage) of Pawhuska, Quapaw; Jennifer Logan (Seneca-Cayuga) of Miami, Seneca Cayuga; Roman Groves (Choctaw) of Claremore, Shawnee, and Charlsie Cunningham (Osage) of Pawhuska, Wyandotte.

“It’s really a unique situation both for the region and especially for the college,” Hale said. “Our thinking was it would be a nice way to profile that longtime relationship and give it a real visible presence on our campus on that corner of Central and I street at the new student housing.”- as well as the Cherokee, are each represented by a flag and plaque in the plaza.

Following the ceremony, a traditional Indian feast was served in the NEO Student Activity Center.

Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma

Sculptor Jim Collins, whose exhibit, Absolutely Ambiguous, is currently on display in the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery, at Coker College in Hartsville, SC, will give three gallery talks, which are free and open to the public, at 9am, 1pm, and  2pm, Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, the final day of the exhibition.

Collins has an extensive exhibition record including numerous solo shows, invitational exhibits and competitions. Presently, he concentrates mostly on private and public commissions.

For his show at Coker he focuses on another large body of work consisting of collage and assemblage—the first term refers to a two-dimensional composition that uses found materials, while the latter refers to a three-dimension composition using that method.

“Jim Collins knows that every viewer brings unique experiences to the interpretation of art,” said Assistant Professor of Art and Gallery Director Larry Merriman.

“Consequently, the perceived message may vary from one viewer to another. While some artists find this discouraging, Jim Collins relishes the varied responses his colorful, nostalgic imagery elicits from his audience,” Merriman said.

Collins was a Professor of Art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga from 1966 until 1983 when he resigned that teaching position to devote full time to his career as a professional artist.  He received a bachelor’s degree from Marshall University, a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from Ohio University.

The Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery is located in the Gladys C. Fort Art Building on the Coker College campus.

For more on the gallery, go to (http://www.wix.com/cokerartgallery/ccgb).

Filed under: Arts Education, Arts Lectures, Hartsville SC Visual Arts, Pee Dee SC Area Visual Arts, SC Visual Arts Tagged: Absolutely Ambiguous Exhibit, Carolina Arts, Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery, Coker College, Hartsville SC, Jim Collins, Larry Merriman. Visiting Hartsville SC, Visiting South Carolina
Carolina Arts News

Please join the Friends of Visual Arts at Barton College in Wilson, NC, for the upcoming Winter Lecture featuring Ben Owen III. His lecture is titled “An Owen Tradition and Transition in Clay,” and the event will be held in the Barton Art Galleries in Case Art Building at 6:30pm on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. There is no charge for the program, and the community is encouraged to attend.  Refreshments will be served.

Owen is a potter from Seagrove, NC. His forefathers came to North Carolina from England as early as the late 1700s to ply their craft and furnish storage jars and other utilitarian wares for the early settlers. Owen’s grandfather, master potter Ben Owen, Sr., admired early oriental pottery displayed in museums and collections, and he translated those works into his own style of pottery.

Ben Owen III studied pottery as an apprentice with his grandfather and later at East Carolina University. Like his grandfather, Owen’s pottery reflects a foundation of traditional design as well as oriental translations.

For additional information about this program, please contact Bonnie LoSchiavo at 252/399-6477 or e-mail to (blloschiavo@barton.edu).

Filed under: Arts Education, Arts Lectures, Eastern NC Visual Arts, NC Pottery, NC Visual Arts, Piedmont NC Visual Arts, Seagrove NC Visual Arts Tagged: Batron College, Ben Owen III, Carolina Arts Carolina Clay Resource Directory, Friends of Visual Arts at Barton College, Visiting North Carolina, Visiting Wilson NC, Wilson NC
Carolina Arts News

I want to say how proud we are of the students who not only are continuing their education but have achieved Honor Roll status for their hard work and commitment. Of Two hundred and Eighty one (281), students Ninety-seven (97) have made the honor roll. Attached you will find a list of the names. “Congratulations” to each of you.

As a native people we live in what are kind of two worlds. On one hand we have the white world which we must live in. But we also have our tribal world. That which sets us apart from everyone else by blood, heritage and spirituality. We should not choose one or the other but accept both, pick ourselves up and strive to make things better for ourselves and our children. To survive and be a strong people we must learn to conquer the white world in our own way, and what better way than through education. You students are on the path, through hard work and dedication to achieve goals which I am proud to recognize.

Congratulations again,

Charles Diebold
Second Chief
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe

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Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma

Rhizome, Candice Ivy’s collaborative sculptural installation located in a vacant church in Charlotte, NC’s, Plaza Midwood neighborhood, will open on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011. The opening reception, which is public and free, will be held from 6:30 to 9pm at the church, located at 1201 Central Avenue in Charlotte.

View of the empty church

Rhizomeis a temporary site-specific installation that combines elements of local architecture and history to create a memorable experience for the viewing public. Born out of a collaboration between International Visual Artist Candice Ivy, Architect, Antonio Martinez, UNC Charlotte Students of Architecture, Logan Chambers, Cherish Rosas, Sean Wilson, Will Allen, John Winstead, and Faculty Advisor, Jennifer Shields, Rhizome was developed and realized over a span of 9 months.

Rhizome will be open to the public Saturdays and Sundays, from 2-6pm, Oct.1 -30, 2011.

Ivy has spent the last nine months collaborating with architectural students and faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to construct the temporary installation. Located in what was formerly a central gathering place for the surrounding community, and a site of strong personal experiences, Rhizome is intended to reflect on both the history of the community and the ideas of transformation and growth.

A scale model from planning in April 2011

“I have long been drawn to working within spaces that are both architecturally and historically diverse,” explained Ivy.  “The challenge of working with students of architecture provided new perspectives on ways of organizing and constructing space, as well as how issues of culture, community, and history can be considered.

“A major goal for the project was to create a charged atmosphere that intimately considers the existing architecture, the history of the space, and the community.” said Ivy.

A multi-media artist born in Hartsville, SC, Ivy received a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at Coker College and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston, MA.

“Her senior exhibition more than ten years ago was an installation of large clay and vine forms,” recalls art professor and chair of the department Jean Grosser.  “It has been especially gratifying to see that imagery evolve in her drawings and installation work over the years.”

Ivy’s works have been shown nationally and internationally including in the Old City Jail in Charleston, SC, as part of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and at the Sguardi Sonori Festival in Venice, Benevento and Frascati, Italy.  Her video work has been shown in such venues as GASP in Boston, Boston University’s 808 Gallery, the Massachusetts College of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Rhode Island International Film Festival in Providence, RI, and in the Berkeley Small Film Festival in Berkeley, CA.

Ivy received the Bartlett Award from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2006 and in 2010 was awarded an artist residency at the McColl Center for Visual Art.  In 2011 she was granted artist residencies from both the Taipei Artist Village in Taipei, Taiwan and ALTER-Auberge in Montreal, Canada. In the Spring and Summer of 2011, Ivy created the site-specific installation, A Sounding, for St. Ann’s Park in Montreal, Canada and her solo exhibition, Feral at TAV’s Barry Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan.

“The McColl Center for Visual Art, one of the primary sponsors of Rhizome, is an amazing promoter and nurturer of the arts in North Carolina,” said Ivy. “Through my relationship with the Center, I have experienced the kind of support that every artist dreams of having.”

The McColl Center for Visual Art is a nationally acclaimed contemporary art center dedicated to connecting art and artists with the community. The Center, a historic, neo-Gothic church in uptown Charlotte, houses nine artist studios and more than 5,000 square feet of gallery space.

For further info on this project visit (http://fluxwurx.com/installation/).

Filed under: Charlotte NC Visual Arts, NC Visual Arts Tagged: Candice Ivy, Charlotte NC, Coker College, Rhizome, UNC Charlotte Students of Architecture, Visiting Charlotte NC, Visiting North Carolina
Carolina Arts News