Current Season

J. Chris Wilson Retrospective

Society of Illustrators Exhibition

26th Annual Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition

Art & Decorative Art

John Morris: Paintings

Barton Senior Art Exhibition 2004

J. Chris Wilson Retrospective

September 12-October 26
Opening Reception September 12, 6-8 p.m.

Barton College is pleased to host one of four parts of the J. Chris Wilson retrospective. In addition to the Barton Museum the exhibit also spans to the Wilson Arts Center, Rocky Mount Arts Center and Blount-Bridgers Museum in Tarboro.

The retrospective marks Wilson’s 30-year anniversary in North Carolina and at Barton College, where Wilson is a professor and director of exhibitions.

“It’s probably the first time that an exhibit with four venues like that has been done in eastern North Carolina, and perhaps, in the South,” said Janice Walston, executive director of Arts Council of Wilson. The collaboration opened the doors for future joint projects.

Wilson’s paintings are grouped by subject at each venue. At the Wilson Arts Center, visitors will see Chris Wilson’s still lifes; at the Rocky Mount Arts Center, landscapes; at the Blount-Bridgers Museum, portraits; and at the Barton Museum, influences.

“We talked about grouping it chronologically, but we decided to go with the subject matter instead so you could look at work from the ’70s and the ’90s and see how different his work is, or how similar his work is,” Walston said.

The influences exhibit at Barton Museum is the most interesting, she said, because it gives a glimpse of Wilson as a student and as a teacher. That exhibit includes paintings by some of Wilson’s students and mentors, such as Lamar Dodd.

The catalog is a hardback, momgraph available for sale at the four venues.

“Seeing a book about the work of someone who lives in this area may open up a dream for somebody in the future,” said Wilson, who expressed hope that students will see that they are capable of producing art.

The retrospective surveys Wilson’s work over 35 years but does not signal the end of his art career. Wilson, 54, hints of possible retirement “in the not too distant future” in the catalog’s essay, written by James McElhinney, an artist-in-residence at East Carolina University.

The expansive showing of more than 100 paintings required four venues to hold them all. Collecting paintings from private collections has posed some logistical challenges. Many paintings were borrowed from local homes, but some were shipped from as far away as Minneapolis and Valdosta, Ga.

The implications of this exhibit and the distribution of the catalog go beyond elevating his career. Wilson said he hoped that this project would help validate the art produced in eastern North Carolina and the region as subject matter.

“He does select his topics from this area. Some artists choose to travel Europe and France, and all over the world and paint those places,” Walston said. “Chris has chosen to paint eastern North Carolina, and that makes him unique.”

Society of Illustrators Exhibition

November 3-December 6

The Society of Illustrators was founded in 1901, and its membership, exhibitions and programs have included many of the legends of American illustration including Howard Pyle, Maxfield Parrish, N.C. Wyeth, Frederick Remington and Norman Rockwell. The society took a special role in the creation of posters during World War I and World War II.

Today, the Museum of the Society possesses 1,500 works by legendary illustration artists, and has sponsored a juried traveling exhibition by current members of the Society since 1959. The traveling exhibition has original works of illustration art in various media that were produced for various forms of print and digital media, most of which have been published in the national arena.

After concluding its showing at Barton College, the exhibition will travel on to Brigham Young University, Boise State University, Utah Valley State and The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.

A special one-day illustration workshop in conjunction with the exhibition will be held Saturday, November 8. The workshop is open to the public 16 years of age or older and will take place in the Case Art Building. There is a $10 fee that will cover lunch and all supplies for workshop participants.

There will be both a fine art illustration option and a commercial art illustration option available. The fine art perspective will introduce the drawing technique of silver point as an illustration tool.

The exhibition will be open for view at 9 a.m. on the day of the workshop with a gallery talk beginning at 10. The hands-on part of the workshop will begin at 11 a.m. and will conclude with an exhibition for the participants of the day’s exercises at 4:30 p.m.

26th Annual Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition

February 1-12
Opening Reception February 1

The Scholastic Art exhibition presents 155 Gold Key finalists. These finalists and the five American Visions Award nominees will enter their works in national competition in New York City following exhibition at Barton.

American Visions Award nominees were Mike Thompson from Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh; Lena Bondar, Jaime Jones and Leslie Nivison from Enloe High School in Raleigh; and Ryan Walker from West Columbus High School in Cerro Gordo.

Jones was also honored with the Governor’s Award. The Governor’s Award was initiated in 2003 by first lady Mary Easley on behalf of the governor of North Carolina. Governor’s Award recipients from all four districts of The Scholastic Art Awards program in North Carolina will be invited to attend a reception in their honor at the Executive Mansion in May, and their artwork will be on exhibit in the Executive Mansion and in the Capitol Building for one month.

Sarah Koury from Enloe High School received The Wilson Daily Times Award in addition to two Gold Key finalist designations.

Andrea Hale from the Durham School of the Arts was recognized as a Gold Key finalist and received the Edward Brown Award named in honor of the long-time director of the Barton Scholastics Program.

Katelin Fallon, also from the Durham School of the Arts, received the N.C. Art Education Association Award and was awarded three Gold Key finalist designations as well as having her portfolio accepted.

Julia Megan Burchett was recognized as a Gold Key finalist, and she also was the recipient of the Barton College Award.

Art & Decorative Art

February 22-March 26
Opening Reception February 22, 2-4 p.m.

On exhibit in the Virginia Thompson Graves Gallery is art and decorative art given to Barton College in recent years from the collection of Dr. and Mrs. Harold A. Ladwig.

These objects are being displayed together in the museum for the first time.

J. Chris Wilson, director of the Barton Museum will speak briefly on the artistic and stylistic features of the Ladwig objects. Friends of the college and members of the community are invited to attend the opening reception.

A number of pieces of military and historical art are also part of the gifts exhibited, including a large portrait of the young Emperor Franz Joseph signed Frederick Krepp and an equestrian painting of the Duke of Wellington in a post-battle scene.

A set of 13 prints titled “The Cries of London” are framed in black and gold eglomise frames. Other objects gifted to Barton College, presently installed in campus buildings, will be documented in photographs in this exhibition.

John Morris: Paintings

February 22-March 26
Opening Reception February 22, 2-4 p.m.

In the Lula E. Rackley Gallery John Morris, adjunct professor of art at Barton College, presents an exhibit of mixed media paintings.

Morris, currently living in Nashville, earned a bachelor of science degree in fine arts from Appalachian State University in 1974, and he completed his master of fine arts degree from East Carolina University in 1982. Morris has exhibited throughout the region including both solo and group shows at the Rocky Mount Arts Center and the Blount Bridgers Museum in Tarboro.

He has received multiple awards from the Rocky Mount Arts Center’s annual exhibition including Best Rocky Mount Artist, best in drawing and second prize in painting. Morris has also received the best in drawing award at an East Carolina University exhibition. He is teaching design and drawing curriculum at Barton College. He has also taught at the community college in Roanoke Rapids, Faith Christian School in Rocky Mount and at the Rocky Mount Arts Center.

His work is included in the collections of the Nash County Superior Court in Nashville, the Boone Chamber of Commerce, the Rocky Mount Medical Park and in the permanent collection of the Rocky Mount Arts Center.

Morris’s mixed media paintings are primarily Nash County landscapes.

Barton Senior Art Exhibition 2004

April 3-May 5
Opening Reception April 3, 8-10 p.m.

Senior adviser and exhibit curator Susan Fecho explained that the senior exhibition is part of Barton’s graduation requirements.

“Visual art students complete their liberal arts experience with a capstone class that includes a professional exhibition,” she said.

Lesley Bowden, a senior from Roseboro, is majoring in art education with a concentration in graphic design. Her work includes traditional drawing to graphic design and will pay tribute to the people of Honduras through a series of monotype silk-screens, inspired by a recent trip. Her work reflects an appreciation of expressive drawing through her study of a Betta fish. Bowden plans to teach art when she graduates.

Mary Elizabeth Burket, a senior from Petersburg, Va., is majoring in studio art with a concentration in graphic design. During her collegiate career, she has redesigned the logo for the city of Wilson and has designed a number of ads for The Collegiate campus newspaper. Burket’s work includes graphic design logos, ceramics, drawings and a watercolor painting.

Patrick Godwin, a senior from Dunn, is majoring in studio art with a concentration in graphic design. Godwin’s work includes commercial photography, illustrations and graphic design selections. Godwin likes to use hand-rendered illustrations in his graphic design pieces to give them a unique feel and attraction.

Nicole Griffin, a senior from Herndon, Va., is majoring in studio art with a concentration in ceramics. Griffin’s work includes ceramic vessels, mixed media and various theatrical scenic designs. Many of her study pieces are influenced by mythology with a recurring theme of dragons and labyrinths.

Megan Johnson, a senior from Winston-Salem, is majoring in studio art with a concentration in photography. Johnson’s work includes both color, and black and white photographs. The color images are part of a series while the black and white is an individual three-dimensional photo sculpture piece, all are photographed with a Holga camera. Her images mirror personal reflection. Also on exhibit are drawings that communicate both the subtle and expressive use of India ink and graphite.