Global Art Exhibitions: “Five Years of Study Abroad” and the GSW & XAUAT Exchange

The Department of Visual Arts held two exhibitions during the week of Nov. 4 – 8, 2013 which showcased the global interactions and connections that the faculty and students of Georgia Southwestern have been making in the past five years.

One of the exhibitions, entitled “Five Years of Study Abroad,” served as a retrospective of the Department’s study abroad trips and featured artwork from students and objects gifted from other universities, art programs and individuals. The Department of Visual Arts started planning its first trip in 2008 and since then has traveled to China three times and to Ghana once. Throughout these trips, the students and faculty have visited seven universities, more than twenty museums, and many historical sites.

The other exhibition, an exchange of artwork between recent graduates of GSW and Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology (XAUAT), was a unique opportunity that was forged through the interactions and relationships built during one of the study abroad trips to China. The exhibition statement explains further:

“This past May, we had the opportunity to visit Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology’s School of Sculpture. During our nearly seven day exchange with Lin Baogang, his faculty, and students, we were able to tour their facilities and engage in extensive conversations about our programs and future potential exchanges. This exchange exhibition is the first step in the development of an ongoing cooperative relationship, which will include our students’ return to Xi’an in 2015 and a visit to GSW from a XAUAT delegation in that same year.”

The exhibition, held in the James Earl Carter Library Gallery, featured the sculptural work of eighteen recent graduates of XAUAT’s bachelor’s and master’s program. The work was displayed as large, high quality photographs with biographical information of each of the students. Meanwhile, at XAUAT, the works of twelve of GSW’s recent graduates were similarly being displayed.

The twelve GSW alumni exhibiting in Xi’an were Heather Ashberry (’10), Ashley Bell (’12), Kevin Bethea (’08), Courtney Bond (’11), Robert Grissett (’11), Sam Hendley (’12), Justin Hodges (’12), Kendall Jackson (’12), John Lin (’12), Nichole Musser (’11), Scott Wilkerson (’12), and Sunni Zemblowski (’12).