opportunities for improvement in my time at OU. Not just to improve techniques, but to give and receive feedback that is unique to this community.” The students learn all of the interrelated skills they need to become successful, professional artists. “They’re from the quick-fix Google generation and often tend to get frustrated when I can’t turn them into da Vinci in a few weeks. It takes time. It takes hard work. Rejection and hard knocks are part of it,” said Dohrmann. Preparing for a show like the 100th Anniversary Student Exhibition is most students’ first opportunity to go through the complete process and stand before the public as a real artist, ready to face critique or to inspire accolades. “We point the way and try to show them concepts and techniques, but encourage them to ‘Go now grasshopper, go figure it out,’” explained Dohrmann. But again, the only way an artist can mine his potential is to reach deep inside himself. He has to merge well-known techniques with concepts that come from personal insights, gut feelings ... maybe the wind. It takes confidence. That’s the key. And it takes that kernel of an idea. That’s the potential. As Rodriguez said, “The University has provided me with a guilt-free period of time to solely focus on my work and myself.” Michael Ray Charles, the juror for the 100th anniversary exhibit, brings a world-class career of experience to the mix. His work expresses explosive commentaries on the legacy of demeaning black stereotypes in our modern society. Now a professor of art at the University of Texas, Charles is a past panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and a juror for the Bush Artist Fellowship. With past exhibits on four continents, he personifies the dream of success to which many OU art students aspire. He will offer up some wisdom in a free, public lecture at FJJMA on Thursday, January 16th from 7-8 pm. No matter what he and the talented faculty at the University of Oklahoma set before the students, it is something within that finally propels the idea to take form as a work of art. “On the way to being a self-sufficient and successful artist, this very talented, very driven individual gets that ah-ha moment,” said Professor Dohrmann. “I get to point out, ‘You did this.’ That’s very satisfying.”
(foreground) Christopher Fleming, La Rouge Fatale, Steel, automotive paint, 30” x 4” x 7” (background) Alexa Healy, Everyone Else and I, Oil on canvas, 21” x 51”
HUNDREDTH ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION
SCHOOL OF ART & ART HISTORY
The 100th Annual School of Art and Art History Student Exhibit will be at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Avenue, from January 14 through February 16. A free, public reception will be held on January 17th at 7 p.m. with an awards presentation beginning at 8 p.m. The Alumni Exhibition will be on display in the Lightwell Gallery from January 13 through February 14. n A suspense author, Lucie Smoker uses high concept art to explore low concept crime. Her first mystery, Distortion, is available now from Buzz Books USA. Its sequel is in the process of moving from kernel-of-an-idea to finished book. luciesmoker.wordpress.com.
p re v i e w
15