39 art history and painting students from the Art Department engaged in applied learning during spring break with a trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas (March 7-8, 2020).

At Crystal Bridges students had the opportunity to visit a Frank Lloyd Wright house, Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room, and gain insight into the inner workings of an art museum through a behind-the-scenes tour with Dr. Mindy Besaw, Crystal Bridges Curator.

Students also visited The Momentary, a new contemporary art space, where they viewed State of the Art 2020, an exhibition presenting insight into what’s happening in the art world right now.

Other stops included the 21c Museum Hotel and the Precious Moments Chapel.

The trip was organized and led by Kathy Liao (Assistant Professor of Painting and Printmaking) and Dr. Madeline Rislow (Assistant Professor of Art History) and made possible by generous support from a Missouri Western Arts Society grant and the Applied Learning Fund.

Art faculty, Kathy Liao, was interviewed and featured by the Ewing Marion Kauffmann Foundation on their website, sharing stories and insights that underscore the essential role of education and entrepreneurship in empowering all people to shape their futures, create vibrant communities, and grow an inclusive economy.

See website article for more info: https://www.kauffman.org/currents/2020/02/painter-kathy-liao-tells-stories-of-separation

Photo Credit: Christopher Smith

Art faculty, Kathy Liao, receives recognition and award from Charlotte Street Foundation.

"Charlotte Street Foundation is excited to announce the three local recipients of the 2020 Visual Artist Awards and two local recipients of the 2020 Generative Performing Artist Awards. This year, Charlotte Street’s Visual Artist Awards were given to Cory Imig, Glyneisha Johnson, and Kathy Liao.This year also marks the 100th Visual Artist Award granted.

Recipients of the 2020 Generative Performing Artist Awards are Stacy Busch and Vi Tran. Since the award started in 2008, 25 performing artists in the Kansas City region have been given the Generative Performing Artist Awards.

ABOUT THE JURY PANEL

The Visual Artist Awards panel included Marisa Del Toro, DAMLI Curatorial Fellow at the Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix, AZ), Sylvie Fortin, independent curator, critic, arts administrator, and current Curator-in-Residence at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha (Montreal, Quebec), Deana Haggag, President and CEO of USA Artists (Chicago, IL), and Bruce Hartman, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (Overland Park, KS).

The Generative Performing Artist Awards panel included Anna Gallagher Ross, Associate Artistic Director & Curator at Fusebox Festival (Austin, TX), Melanie George, Audience Educator and Dramaturg at Lumberyard (Catskill, NY), Eddie Moore, former Charlotte Street Generative Performing Arts Fellow, jazz musician and arts administrator (Kansas City, MO), and Kenneth Martin, Professor of Theatre & Chair of the Theatre Division at UMKC Conservatory (Kansas City, MO).

Each Charlotte Street Visual Artist Award Fellow receives an unrestricted cash grant of $10,000, recognition by Charlotte Street at the time of Award announcement and throughout 2020—including announcements to media, web-based marketing and promotional efforts, special events, and inclusion in the 2020 Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards Exhibition at Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, KS later in the 2020 calendar year. The exhibition will be curated by Bruce Hartman, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art.

The 2020 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Awards recognize two exceptional artists in the fields of dance, theatre, music, opera, sound art, performance art, multimedia performance, spoken word, puppetry or hybrid performance-based forms. Both of the artists will also receive an unrestricted cash award of $10,000 and their public performances will be promoted by Charlotte Street throughout the rest of 2020 calendar year.

All of the 2020 Charlotte Street Award Fellows were selected through competitive processes beginning with open calls for applications from artists based in the five-county Kansas City Metro Area. Artists selections were made by a panel of jurors consisting of renowned and qualified arts professionals. Jurors participated in in-person interviews, presentations, and studio visits, resulting in the selection of 10 finalists for the Generative Performing Artists Awards and 10 finalists for the Visual Artist Awards."

Lindsey Davis, MWSU graphic design senior, was recently honored by having her design work selected for the cover of GOOSE, an international journal of global policy analysis. Lindsey submitted two posters for the international competition and both were selected for publication, with one being selected for the cover art of the issue. Lindsey's posters are titled, "Save the Trees, Save Humanity," and convey the dire results of deforestation. In her cover poster, Lindsey depicts a tree ring slice superimposed by an image of a human fingerprint to visually suggest the connection and future between the two. Lindsey's other poster, which shows a shower of tree stumps ending with a fingerprint, also alludes to the effects of deforestation. Lindsey's work can be viewed at https://scholars.wlu.ca/thegoose/