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Fall Art Exhibit Features Work of Alumnae, Faculty By Melyssa Allen
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collaborative multi-media installation exhibited in the Frankie G. Weems Art Gallery this fall featured artists with Meredith connections. “Rhymes in Time,” which reinterpreted children’s nursery rhymes, was the work of art faculty member Emily Soldin Howard, ’01, classmate Emily Cash Wilmoth, ’01, Catherine Thornton and Kelly Smith-Campbell. In the exhibition, the artists identified and explored women’s roles, female stereotypes and myths found in nursery rhymes, visually addressing hidden concepts and historical references found deep within the poems. The nursery rhymes featured in the exhibit were Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Little Miss Muffett, The Old Woman Who Swallowed the Fly and Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater. Pulling information from the past, all four artists worked to infuse their re-envisioned nursery rhyme environment with a historical feel, connecting Mary, Mary Quite Contrary to “Bloody Mary” and Little Miss Muffett to Mary, Queen of Scots. The exhibit included pen and ink drawings, large scale drawings, sculpture and audio and video components to create the feeling of being totally submerged in a different, yet familiar, world.
“Meredith was the perfect venue for me to transform into my ‘ideal’ multi-sensory environment,” Wilmoth said, because of its focus on educating women and the opportunity to connect to several academic departments. Wilmoth has taught at Meredith College and Duke University and is a faculty member at the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham. Howard is a textile artist and an adjunct faculty member at Meredith. A number of Meredith students contributed to the completion of the exhibition. Instructor Emily Soldin Howard’s
fibers class wove Miss Muffett’s spider web and her two dimensional class created the rug under the rocking chair. Associate Professor of Art Lisa Pearce’s two dimensional design classes worked on the wall drawings. Assistant Professor of Art Warner Hyde’s sculpture class worked on the installation of the Old Woman Who Swallowed the Fly’s intestines. Emily Cash Wilmoth received a Regional Artists Project Grant from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County in support of this exhibition.
Bequest of More Than $1 Million Establishes Scholarship Fund By Melyssa Allen
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bequest of more than $1 million from the estate of Ruth H. Huskins has established the Ruth Elizabeth McNeill Scholarship Endowment Fund at Meredith College. The bequest is in memory of Huskins’ daughter, Ruth Elizabeth McNeill, an alumna of Meredith College. Huskins was the widow of Judge J. Frank Huskins, a Yancey County native who served on the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1968-1982 and in the
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North Carolina House of Representatives. A native of Caldwell County, N.C., Ruth Huskins moved to Raleigh in 1966. She passed away in March 2010 at age 87. She is survived by her son, Robert McNeill of Houston, Texas. This scholarship at Meredith College will provide support for undergraduate students with financial need. Preference will be given to students who are residents of Caldwell, Mitchell and Yancey counties.
Scholarships in the amount of $4,000 (inflation adjusted) will be awarded to one or more students each year who demonstrate a desire for a college education and are found to be in need of financial aid. Prospective students from Caldwell, Mitchell and Yancey counties interested in learning more about the scholarship should contact Meredith Secosky, admissions counselor, at (919) 760-8581 or secoskym@meredith.edu.