Former and current Department of Art faculty and Alumni are reunited in a joint exhibition at the Miami University Art Museum. Held every four years, this display of recent work gives both groups an opportunity to showcase work developed outside of the classroom and independent of curricular responsibilities. The unique part for viewers is to explore new creations by familiar artists as well as discover diverse expressions produced by faculty who joined the department since 2013.

The art faculty at Miami University are first recognized as educators. At a university or college, this is how students and colleagues know them. However, we rarely have an opportunity to see their personal artistic explorations since most show their creations in galleries and museums at other universities as part of the tenure and promotion process. It is for this reason that hosting a regular exhibition of recent work brings awareness of the art faculty’s creative energies to local audiences. Too often Department of Art exhibitions at universities and colleges are dedicated solely to the presentation of artforms and negate the contributions of scholars to the art world. In order to present art in its greater context, this exhibition includes published journal articles written by Art Historians in the Department of Art.

Bringing in another element to the mix is the work of Department of Art alumni. This blending of emeritus and current faculty alongside former students is a presentation of generations and styles united in a quest for creative expression. There is no separation or grouping of works to distinguish them from one another. Many of the alumni are now educators, following in the footsteps of their mentors. This is a special opportunity to see parallels between artists, two, even three generations side-by-side. The alumni were elected by current and emeritus faculty and invited to participate. Alumni works were juried for this exhibition by Annie Dell’Aria, Assistant Professor of Art History, Miami University (Oxford) and Roscoe Wilson, Studio Art Professor and Chair of the Department of Humanities and Creative Arts, Miami University (Hamilton). Combined, this exhibition presents 89 works of art created by 20 current faculty, 5 emeritus faculty and 48 alumni.

As with past iterations of this quadrennial exhibition, the body of work presented in this presentation features a diverse exploration of art forms including sculpture, painting, ceramics, photography, video, printmaking, collage, mixed media works and scholarly publications. Visitors to the Art Museum will explore the vast array of art making practices at Miami University.

Special appreciation goes out to Peg Faimon, former Chair, and Tom Effler, Interim Chair, of the Department of Art, and Ann Taulbee, Director of the Hiestand Galleries, for their collaboration and continued support of this quadrennial exhibition. Gratitude is extended to professors Annie Dell’Aria and Roscoe Wilson for their insight and dedication to excellence in the arts. The Miami University Art Museum is pleased to present this exhibition and to be a partner in the presentation of Miami University’s art faculty and alumni, on the Oxford, Hamilton and Middletown campuses.