Drawing at the University of Wyoming

Inside the New Visual Arts Building at UW – July 2011

Doug Russell — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:58:43 +0000

Here are a few shots of the progress inside the Visual Arts Building from a recent tour.

The first image is a view of the lobby from near the entrance and adminstrative office towards the classroom and faculty studio wings. The main gallery is just to the left.

Below is a view of the same lobby from above and the opposite direction. Gallery is clearly viewable now on the right side of the main floor – with adminstration and the main entrance to its left.

Below is a view of one of the two drawing classrooms. There are two classrooms for drawing with storage for projects and still life items in between the two rooms. The entrance to the still life storage area can be seen on the left wall of this photo.

Below are two views of the other drawing classroom – which is essentially a mirror of the one above with a slightly different wall/window configuration on the north side of the room.

And here is a shot of the painting studio. The low wall will divide the upper level painting students and classes from the beginning classes.

And finally – here is a shot from the upstairs hallway in the eastern wing of the building.

Former UW Art Student Living and Working in Istanbul

Doug Russell — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:54:25 +0000

A former drawing and painting student from the University of Wyoming, Gabrielle Reeves (BFA 2009), moved to Istanbul at the beginning of this summer. Gabby was part of the first Summer in Turkey class in 2008 – and traveled again (with Andrew Parker and Sarah Dahlinger) through Turkey in the summer of 2010.

She recently began a blog of her experiences while in Turkey called MaviLale (the blue tulip). You can follow her at:

http://mavilale.wordpress.com/

Here’s one example of her sketches:

You can see more of her work on her main website:

http://gabriellereeves.com/home.html

Also of interest might be this blog run by two architectural students living in Istanbul whom Gabby just met. They are also constantly posting their observations and sketches of Turkey. You can follow them (Nicole Keroack and Michelle Benoit) here:

http://mandntakeistanbul.wordpress.com/

New Visual Arts Building at UW – July 2011

Doug Russell — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:13:56 +0000

Here’s a quick shot of the current state of the new visual arts building at the University of Wyoming. This image shows the western wing of the facility – with sculpture on the first floor and painting, drawing, and foundations on the second floor. With the pre-poured concrete slabs, brickwork, and windows now in place – one can really begin to see how the finished building will look. I personally really like the way that the frameless windows create a sense that the roof line was lifted up and floated over the rest of the building. I also like how the interior steel structure is exposed and viewable through the windows.

The facility is due to be completed in late fall 2011 – with classes in the new space starting in the spring semester 2012.

And a detail of the roofline…

David, Pat, and Shelby in Wendover, Utah

Doug Russell — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:49:55 +0000

Three of our UW professors are currently at a residency in Utah. You can check out their blog here:

http://gold mine swendover.wordpress.com/

And from that blog here is a quick description…

“David Jones, Patrick Kikut and Shelby Shadwell will be spending summer 2011 as Artists-in-Residence at the Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI) in Wendover, Utah. They teach in the Department of Art at the University of Wyoming in Laramie and will be pursuing creative research dealing with land and cultural issues in the American West.”

The site for the Wendover Residency Program (through the Center for Land Use Interpretation) can be found here:

http://www.clui.org/pro_pro/wendover/index.html

Drawing III

Doug Russell — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:12:04 +0000

In Drawing III there is often a component that requires students to think about drawing in a non-traditional way. They begin with the various definitions, methods, and processes of drawing – but then move beyond the obvious and traditional materials and outcomes. Below are several images of a piece by Dakotah Konicek entitled “Automatic Awakening.” Materials used in this kinetic drawing are particleboard, bicyle chain, magnets, iron filings, and a small DC motor. The class this past spring semester was taught by Shelby Shadwell.

In Dakotah’s words…”At the time I was making this drawing I was involved in a religion class, which discussed Hindu and Buddhism. So I like to think that this piece is about enlightenment or the realization that the self and the cosmos are the same. The drawing starts off divided in the middle, one half is empty and the other is covered evenly with iron filings. When the machine is running iron filings start migrating to the empty side by tumbling end over end. This tumble reminds me of the cycle of reincarnation. As the machine continues to draw filings begin to escape the magnetic field and are discarded on either side of the magnetic path. This escape is similar to the end goal of both the Hindu and Buddhist religions, which is liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth.”

The images below show the piece after about an hour of operation.

There is also a video posted of the work in motion on YouTube

Drawing IV

Doug Russell — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:02:46 +0000

In future posts I will be highlighting individual students and drawings from the past several semesters. To start with – here is a piece by Kelsey Giroux done in ART 4005: Drawing IV. Shelby Shadwell taught the class during this past spring semester (2011).

The drawing is ink and charcoal on paper, 42″ x 36″…

New Visual Arts Building at UW

Doug Russell — Sat, 21 May 2011 20:40:58 +0000

Here are a few images of the new Visual Arts Building at the University of Wyoming. The facility is due to be completed in late fall 2011 – with classes in the new space starting in the spring semester 2012.

A view looking into the lobby from the entrance. To the left will be the gallery space.

A view looking back down into the main lobby back towards the entrance. Gallery is now on the right – with adminstrative offices next to and behind it.

A view of one of the two drawing classrooms. The low wall in the foreground will wrap around a set of flatfiles and be across from the main cabinets, counter, and sinks. Windows will have blackout shades in order to completely control the lighting for models and still lifes.

A view again of the lobby from “inside” the gallery looking up with the balcony on the top right. This balcony will become a cyber-lounge overlooking the main space.

And finally – a view of the exterior of the north side of the building. Sculpture (and its exterior courtyard) will be on the first floor – and Foundations, Drawing, and Painting will be on the second floor of this wing. Printmaking, Graphic Design, Photography, Metalsmithing, Ceramics, and Faculty Studios will be in the eastern wing (not pictured in this image).

UW Drawing Blog

Doug Russell — Wed, 04 May 2011 03:06:47 +0000

Welcome to the University of Wyoming Drawing Blog.

In addition to ongoing posts about the drawing program here at UW, this blog serves as a reference for course syllabi, examples of student work, and links to related sites.

Below is a drawing by our recent graduate, Jessica Tanguay.

You may see more of her work at her blog and website.