PSU Art Alumni News

Portland State University Art Alumni

July 2012

IN THIS ISSUE

2012 Art Alumni Exhibition

Committee News

Pat Boas Receives the Bonnie Bronson Award

Alumni Focus: Tobias Greiner

Art Alumni News/Updates

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Art Alumni Exhibition - SAVE THE DATE
CROSS SECTION 2012

The PSU Art Alumni and Friends Committee is organizing its next art alumni exhibition, to take place during the months of October and November this year in the MK Gallery on the 2nd floor of the PSU Art Building at 2000 SW 5th Avenue. This year's exhibition, called CROSS SECTION 2012, is an invitational and will focus on six art alumni, in recognition of their exceptional professional achievements as visual artists. The artists who have been invited to participate are Jim Hibbard '65, Robert Baribeau '76, Ken Butler MFA '78, Elise Wagner '95, Pat Boas MFA '00, and Holly Andres '04. A reception for the artists will be held during PSU Week, on Saturday, October 13th, 5-8 pm. The exhibition will be open on October 1 and run through November. The MK Gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday, 10 am to 5 pm.

Art Alumni Committee Connects with Alumni Association

The PSU Alumni Association is going through a reorganization that will encourage focused interest groups of alumni to become "affinity groups" of the Association. The PSU Art Alumni and Friends Committee (AA&F) has made contact with Tom Bull, the new director of the PSU Office of Alumni Engagement, and is working with him on the process of becoming one of the first Alumni Association affinity groups.

The new affiliation is expected to be finalized in the fall and will have several benefits for art alumni of PSU. AA&F will have access to the Simon Benson House for meetings and other events. AA&F will have a representative on the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association. AA&F will also become an active participant in PSU Week, and the artists' reception of the next PSU Art Alumni Exhibition (see below) will take place that weekend on October 13th, 5-8 pm in the MK Gallery in the Art Building on 5th Avenue. AA&F will also maintain its relationship with the Art Department and will now have a faculty member on the committee, Professor Erik Geschke (Art Practices, Sculpture, MFA Committee).

The Art Department will continue to fund the ARTREACH newsletter email service and provide support for a biennial art alumni exhibition in one of the Department's galleries. The Office of Alumni Engagement will provide some limited and temporary funding while the committee explores ways to raise money or in-kind donations for receptions, mailings and other events. Ultimately, fundraising efforts will focus on scholarships for students of the Art Department.

Pat Boas, June 22, 2008, Inside the Interrogation of a 9/11 Mastermind (detail), 2009, From the series: NYT Little People, gouache on paper

Pat Boas Receives Bonnie Bronson Award

Pat Boas MFA '00 (painting) is this year's recipient of the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship Award. For each of the past 21 years, the Bronson Fund, through its confidential nomination and selection process, has honored an artist from the Pacific Northwest with a fellowship and the purchase of their work for the Bonnie Bronson Collection, which is housed at Reed College and prominently displayed throughout the campus.

In 2009, the Art Gym at Marylhurst University presented Record Record, a one-person exhibition of Boas' work curated by Art Gym Director Terri Hopkins, and accompanied by a sixty-page catalog. Boas' domestic lexicon, What Our Homes Can Tell Us, was featured in Portland 2010: a Biennial of Contemporary Art and she received a Jurors' Award for her work in the 2006 Oregon Biennial. Reviews of Boas' work have appeared in Art in America and Art Papers.

Boas is also an accomplished writer, who has published articles and reviews in Art Papers and artUS, and she was a contributing editor of Artweek from 2002 to 2006. A committed educator, Boas is Assistant Professor of Art Practice in the Department of Art at Portland State University, where she has coordinated the MFA in Contemporary Art Practice program since 2007.

Tobias Greiner installation

ALUMNI PROFILE
Tobias Greiner, MFA '06

Tobias Greiner (studio arts) returned to Germany, after he graduated from PSU with an MFA in studio arts, to continue his education and graduate in English/American studies from the University of Stuttgart in 2006. Two years later, he received his second (final) federal state teaching license from the Staatliche Seminar Esslingen, for fine arts and English teaching.

Since 2007, Tobias has been teaching fine arts and English at a German Gymnasium and, since 2009, also at universities in Baden-Württemberg. Tobias writes for newspapers and magazines and has received a three-year studio grant from the state of Baden-Württemberg (2007-2010) and a Debüt-Preis for his exhibition and book project More&War-Disembbeded Journartis (256 pages, ISBN 978-3-942144-15-5) in 2011, during the 250th anniversary of his home university in Stuttgart - for which he had travelled back to the US and to Portland in the summer of 2010.

Also in 2011, he took part in the art book fair project MISSREAD at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin with an "off-place" Taube print edition, and in a show including catalog release at the Galerie der Stadt Backnang (Das Schrimmen von Tink, Textem Verlag, Hamburg, ISBN:978-3-86485-003-5).

Tobias now lives in the small, artistic Baroque city of Ludwigsburg - just a few miles north of Stuttgart. He still loves traveling and investigating the unknown, forgotten, hidden, neglected or forbidden territories (applying documentary filming, drawings and collages, concepts including objects, writing, book and zine production, installation, etc.) Tobias says his goal is "to open doors for humanitarian, personal, democratic and artistic freedom of thinking, speaking, acting, loving, etc."

http://sonnendeck-stuttgart.de/wordpress/print/Sonnendeck03-12.pdf
http://www.textem.de/index.php?id=2310
http://www.bw-stipendium.de/en/stipvisit/the-previous-stipvisit/america/tobias-greiner/article/0.html?tx_ttnews%5BcalendarYear%5D=2012&tx_ttnews%5BcalendarMonth%5D=4
http://meltonpriorinstitut.org/pages/textarchive.php5?view=text&ID=63&language=English

Art Alumni News/Updates

Tell us about your news, exhibitions or just what you are doing. Send an email with the subject "news" to psuartalumni@gmail.com. Include your graduation date, degree and area of concentration. If possible, include a low resolution photo and caption and a link to your website.

Damien Gilley MFA '09 and Ralph Pugay MFA '10, have been selected from over 1,000 applicants to appear in New American Paintings, No. 97 Pacific Coast Issue. The 40 artists featured in this juried exhibition-in-print were selected by Anne Ellegood, Senior Curator, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA. New American Paintings was founded in 1993 as an experiment in art publishing, with more than five thousand artists reviewed annually. Copies of New American Paintings can be found at all major bookstores and newsstands.

David Doms '09 (graphic design) and a friend have started a business called Occam Software, and the first product they will be releasing is called KidBins. You can learn more at http://kidbins.com/.

Alison Lutz, drawing

Alison Lutz '08 (printmaking) received her MFA in Drawing from University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in 2011 and is currently an Adjunct Faculty member at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, teaching drawing and art appreciation. Alison's work was recently included in the 2012 Oregon Artist Showcase at the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg, Oregon. She currently lives in Portland.

Liz Macgregor '09 (painting/drawing/printmaking)
My Etsy site: www.etsy.com/shop/the333alliance
Find her on Facebook as Liz Macgregor Art or The 333 Alliance.

Carly Bodnar, Bodyfolds, 2011,

oil on canvas, 23 x 23"

Carly Bodnar '08 (drawing/painting/printmaking) moved to New York City last spring, and was included in a group show in March on the Lower East Side. Her website is www.carlybodnar.com.

Daniel Papke '07 (drawing/painting/printmaking) maintained an art practice in Portland for about a year before moving to Alaska. After doing carpentry in Alaska for three years, Daniel moved back down to the lower 48 and is living with his partner in Northern California, where he is making art again. He was recently included in a group show in Chico, CA, and is scheduled for another showing in July. Daniel is also working on the exhibitions committee for the 1078 Gallery in Chico, CA and maintaining a small handyman business. In January of 2013 he will be curating a show at the 1078 Gallery of Pacific Northwest artists. www.danielpapke.com,

missingakick@gmail.com, www.1078gallery.org.

Julia Stoops, Rings, mixed media, joint compound, on panel, 23 x 17"

Julia Stoops MFA '07 (painting) recently showed her work in "Simply Red", the inaugural exhibition at Mark Woolley's new gallery in Pioneer Place, 3rd floor, with the other new galleries there. Her website is http://juliastoops.net

Justin Auld, Quantum Painting #16, 2010, oil on Masonite, 79" x 49"

Justin Auld MFA'05 (studio arts) has been crafting a series of paintings that he calls "Quantum Paintings". He says, "They explore our willingness to see what is not there and walk the line between representational and abstract art". He has recently started selling prints of his work and they can be viewed online at justinauld.com.

Ethan Ham MFA, '05 (studio arts)

At the beginning of the past school year Ethan received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor of Art at the City University of New York, where he is the Director of the Electronic Design & Multimedia BFA and the Digital & Interdisciplinary Art MFA programs. He also collaborated on an installation titled The Spaniard + the Hudson Eel, with Tom Thayer and Keith Connolly, at the Sculpture Center in Long Island City, NY, from January 15 through March 26. Details about the show are available here.

Barbara Rawls, Basalt Portal, acrylic on panel, 14 x 14"

Dale Rawls, Wide White Collar, acrylic and collage on canvas, 42 x 36"

Barbara Rawls '03 (graphic design)

Dale Rawls '87 (ceramics)

In September 2010 Dale and Barbara moved out of their Thurman Street Studios and added a studio space to their remodeled houseboat near the west end of the Sauvie Island Bridge. They both currently have paintings on display at Breken, a restaurant located at 1800 NW 16th Ave. Portland, OR, 97209, through August 24th. Barbara Rawls' website is barbararawls.com. Dale Rawls' website is dalerawls.com.

Lea Keohane '02 (drawing/painting/printmaking). Her website is http://www.leakarts.com, and she has an etsy shop at http://leakarts.etsy.com.

Rebekka Rudin '00 (art history) got her MA from CCNY 2004,
is a partner assistant for two senior partners at Herzog & de Meuron architects in Basel.www.herzogedemeuron.com. She has also been giving tours at the Museum Tinguely in Basel for over two years. www.tinguely.ch. She says she is "forever grateful to Profs Dr. Sue Taylor and Dr. Mark Trowbridge!"

Elise Wagner '95 (painting) was recently part of a group show at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersberg, FL, titled Wax: Medium Meets Message. She was also a panelist at the 6th Annual International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, MA, in June, and her work was included in a group show at the Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown. Elise is currently preparing for her next solo exhibition in September at Butters Gallery in Portland.

Scott Rose '89 (architecture) worked for six years as a planner and project manager for Kent School District near Seattle, and Eugene School District. He returned to Portland in 1995, and has since worked for a national Architectural and Planning firm, DLR Group, where he is now a Principal partner. Scott ran as a candidate for Mayor of the City of Portland in the May 15th election.

Leslie Baird, Tape Painting - 2, 2010,
acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18"

Leslie Baird '85 (graphic design) worked for several travel-oriented magazine publishing companies, and pursued freelance graphic design work, which she continues to do. With an emphasis on small businesses and non-profits, she designs logos, newspapers, websites, and other advertising materials. Fine art has always been a strong interest in Leslie's life, as she continues creating works of art separately from design work. Leslie says, "My current pieces are works/statements of texture and color with the use of tape as a masking element." Her website is www.lesliebairddesign.com.

Cindy (Schumock) Lommasson '84 (ceramics) has received a Regional Arts and Culture Council Professional Development Grant, which she will use to revamp her website, www.cindylommasson.com. Lommasson specializes in Chinese Brush Painting, and teaches, in addition to her studio practice.

Catherine Murray, The Edge of Things, bronze, wood, lead

Catherine Murray '82 (sculpture) is now Professor of Sculpture at East Tennessee State University, and has been Chair of the department since 2008. Her school website: http://www.etsu.edu/cas/art/

Molly (Boyer) Reeves '81 (painting) went on to receive a Master's in Mechanical Engineering from OSU in 1984, and worked in the engineering field for quite a while before the call to return to paint proved too strong. Now she paints non-stop, exhibits her work, does commissions, juries, and teaches painting. She recently showed her work at the First Unitarian Church in downtown Portland, and will be in the Edmonds Art Festival and Lake Oswego Art Festival this summer.

Carolyn Cole '77 (painting) had a solo exhibition of her most recent paintings at Butters Gallery during the month of May, and is having shows in September at Aberson Exhibits in Tulsa, OK, and Gallery KH in Chicago.

Greg Danielson, Farmers Market as seen from the Library steps of PSU looking East, pastel

Greg Danielson '73 (graphic design) owned and operated Pen & Pencil Grafix for more than 23 years. Currently he is retired but doing fine art chalk pastel paintings. His work can be seen at

http://www.frontroomgallery.net

Corinna Campbell-Sack with an interpretive panel in a Lake Oswego park.

Corinna Campbell-Sack '66 (graphic design) has recently worked on several projects for the City of Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation Department. She has designed 14 large interpretive panels concerning the city's iron history. The most recent panels concern the Oswego Iron Heritage Trail. The earlier panels interpret Lake Oswego's first iron furnace. http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/parksrec/oiht.htm

PSU Art Alumni and Friends Committee

The PSU Art Alumni and Friends Committee was formed in 2008
,and is dedicated to highlighting the accomplishments of PSU art alumni, to increasing interaction among current students, faculty, and alumni, and to expanding their connections to a broader community. The committee is coordinated by alumni volunteers, with the support of the Art Department and the Office of Alumni Engagement, and is in the process of becoming one of the first Affinity Groups of the PSU Alumni Association. Currently active alumni members of the AA&F Committee are Leslie Baird, Cindy Lommasson, James Minden, Pamela Morris, Marlie Ranslam and Ben Rosenberg. Erik Geschke is our Art Department faculty representative. We can always use more help to create more frequent events and communications, and encourage you to get involved with us. If you are interested, please contact James Minden at psuartalumni@gmail.com.