[from the series “Homework: Photographs from Taos, New Mexico”]
The Pollock Gallery of the Division of Art at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts will present EMERITA: A retrospective of Debora Hunter and Mary Vernon, an exhibition featuring works by the two recently retired SMU art professors, from September 7 to October 20, 2018. This two-person retrospective honors their collective 90-year contribution to the Meadows School, exhibiting work from the 1970s to the present.
There were awards, electric blue lights, and tears of nostalgia. In the final hours of the 2017-2018 academic year at SMU Meadows, as Dean Sam Holland delivers his commencement speech, we will reflect on the events of a challenging and rewarding year. Jazz dance artist retires in May after 13 years of teaching at SMU. Ignite/Arts Dallas, our community engagement movement, celebrated its third year. There was swing dance. We talked the future of the word “entrepreneurship” at an event called MPower. We saw Frankenstein’s monster. This was the year in photos. All photos by Kim Leeson unless noted.
In May, Mary Vernon concludes her long career at SMU. She is retiring as an art professor, a master of painting, drawing and color theory education at Meadows School of the Arts. She’s been teaching here for 50 years.
On September 15, her new exhibit titled “Painting is Drawing” opened at the Grace Museum in Abilene, where it will be on view until January 6. The exhibit features her interpretations of landscapes and still lifes, often marked by soft lines and blended colors in media including oil and graphite. The museum will host a reception with the artist on October 7.
The museum also captured Vernon’s installation on video to mark the exhibit’s opening.
SMU’s Division of Art hosts an ongoing series of lectures and panels by an exciting group of artists, critics and curators. This series of discursive events is not only a crucial part of the graduate and undergraduate curriculum, it also provides a space for the Dallas community to engage with art and ideas.