Texas Tech University

On February 15th, during this year’s Betty Clawson Wright Performance hosted by Ms. Karen Savage and the School of Music, The Ohio State University concert pianist, Steven Glaser announced that he was creating a scholarship endowment in Art in memory of Nancy Naumann (1951-2002), who was his partner late in her life.  Since then family members and friends of Nancy Naumann have joined with additional contributions to the endowment fund which will support scholarships for beginning fall 2012.  See link below to make an online contribution.

Nancy Naumann, had taken up ceramics before her death in 2002.

ART alumni remember Nancy as Nancy Naumann Merchant who was married to Rob Merchant while she worked on her BFA in printmaking, which she received in the late 1970s.  Years later, after Rob’s death of cancer, Nancy returned to Lubbock to complete an MFA in drawing and printmaking in 1989 studying with both Terry Morrow and Lynwood Kreneck.  Kreneck, who remembers Nancy as an “extremely talented printmaker,” recalled that when he was included in a national survey booklet  titled In Their Own Image: Printmakers and Their Students from 19 Colleges and Universities, that he had chosen one of Nancy’s lithographs (and one by Future Akins) to represent the Texas Tech program.

"Chronology" circa 1989, a litho-screenprint selected by Lynwood Kreneck for publication (reproduced in b/w).

Nancy and Steven Glaser started dating in the early 1990s when Glaser was on the Tech School of Music faculty.  When he moved to Ohio to serve on the faculty of The Ohio State University, Nancy went with him.  They lived together many years, but were never married. Says Glaser about Nancy, “she was the most genuine, honest, and unselfish person I’ve ever met. To have known Nancy was a gift and a privilege.”    read more >>

Larry Bamburg (1997 BFA painting and sculpture; MFA from U-Mass) has a solo exhibition at GRIMM Gallery in Amsterdam through May 8th.  Bamburg, who lives in Brooklyn,  culls images and idiosyncratic details from the natural world to produce kinetic installations.

Titled Bamberg (sic.), the exhibition has been reviewed by Andrea Alessi for ArtSlant Amsterdam.

Aesthetica, an engaged British-based contemporary art and culture magazine, recognized Jonathan Whitfill (2006 MFA in Sculpture, minor in Printmaking) as an artist who captures “the creative zeitgeist of our times.”

Jonathan Whitfill.

In 2010, Whitfill was named a finalist in the prestige Aesthetica Magazine’s Works Competition. From a very competitive pool of over 4000 entries from across the globe, the installation piece titled “The media, the participant, the shredder” earned Whitfill a place among the 96 overall finalists. For almost a month, Whitfill shredded newspapers in the sub-basement of the School of Art to produce the installation. A brief bio of Whitfill, and an image of “The media, the participant, the shredder,” was published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual 2011 in recognition of being one of the top finalists. This annual publication is stocked in outlets worldwide including such influential locations such as Tate Modern, Serpentine, National Portrait Gallery and W.H. Smith.

Jonathan Whitfill "The media, the participant, the shredder" (2006) installation with paper, dimensions variable. Image published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual 2011.

Whitfill’s works were viewed in a host of new venues in 2010 including Art Vitam Galerie Europ’Art in Aigues Mortes, France, as part of the Le Livre est une Oeuvre D’Art, a renowned international juried exhibition. More locally, two of his pieces (“Translate” and “Traducir”) were recently exhibited at EXPO 2011 at 500X in Dallas.

Jonathan Whitfill "Translate" (2009) nails, printed text, plastic coating. 9 x 5 x 5 inches. The sister piece, titled "Traducir," is composed of the same 256 words, but translated into Spanish - thus, the pair of works create a tangible Rosetta stone.    read more >>

Christie Blizard, Assistant Professor of Painting, received the Texas Tech Alumni Association New Faculty award for 2011.

Christie Blizard, Assistant Professor of Painting, 2011.

As a prolific artist and committed instructor, Professor Blizard grounds her students in strong technical instruction fused with conceptual, and experimental, approaches to the process of making art. For Professor Blizard, it seems that art is an action experienced inside the instructional studio, but is practiced as continuous daily acts of life. Her oeuvre is exhibited globally while numerous fellowship opportunities, such as a 2010 SIM Artist Residency in Reykjavik, Iceland, allow Professor Blizard the opportunity to capture the temporal performance of making art. The inherent continuity between Blizard’s pedagogical approaches, and her art practice, inspires her students and fellow faculty members.

Tina Fuentes, Director and Professor of Art, congratulates Professor Blizard on her well deserved success, and said, “This young and upcoming artist is certainly making some powerful strides in her field and I am convinced that we will continue to hear and see much of her success in years to come.”

Professor Blizard is honored to receive the Texas Tech Alumni Association New Faculty award for 2011. Yet, she recognizes that each one of her fellow faculty members deserves the same recognition for their successful endeavors and hopes that this award highlights the strengths of the entire art department.

Gene Mittler, professor emeritus of art, receives the Texas Art Education Association's (TAEA) award of "Friend to Art Education" from TAEA president Cheryl Evans. Cindi Garrett, TAEA Awards Chair and School of Art alumna, is at the microphone.

Gene A. Mittler, professor emeritus of art (1982-1995), recently received the Texas Art Education Association’s 2010 Friend of Art Education award at the Austin Convention Center.

An influential pioneer in the Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE) movement, Dr. Mittler dedicates his talents to weaving the arts into the fabric of the educational system. Dr. Mittler’s prolific, heavily cited, body of published work built  the foundation for, and still contributes to, today’s dialogue on art education.  Because of his exceptional lectures he maintains the  status of a highly sought out keynote speaker.

Professor Terry Morrow fondly recalls that Dr. Mittler’s fascination with Ernest Hemingway led him to take numerous research expeditions to Spain. On one of these trips, Dr. Mittler met his wife, and later, they named all of their children after characters from Hemingway’s novels. Professor Morrow believes that Dr. Mittler proved an invaluable asset to the School of Art (ART) faulty and students, and his brilliant energy, in the halls of the art building, is still missed.

ART wishes, Dr. Mittler, a heartfelt congratulations for his well-deserved recognition of an exemplary career.