006 MTSU’s TODD GALLERY LAUNCHES TWO-EXHIBIT LINE-UP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 24, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Todd Gallery, 615-898-5653.
or Lon Nuell, 615-898-2505

Annual Faculty Show Begins Aug. 28; First-Ever Alumni Exhibit Opens Sept. 18

(MURFREESBORO)—Eleven members of MTSU’s visual art faculty will present their creativity for all to see during MTSU’s annual Faculty Art Exhibition beginning August 28 through Sept. 8 in the university’s Todd Gallery.
The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will feature works by Erin Anfinson, Michael Baggarly, John Donovan, Janet Higgins, Jarrod Houghton, Noel Lorson, Jean Nagy, Marissa Recchia, Patricia Tenpenny, Tanya Tewell and Tom Thayer.
Sponsored by the Department of Art at the start of each fall semester, the exhibit showcases works by one-half of the art faculty in an effort to introduce the department’s staff artists/educators to MTSU’s art students and the community at large.
Regarding this year’s participating artists, Lon Nuell, gallery curator, said, “The artists work in a variety of media and styles, including the representational, abstract and nonobjective as through traditional media in a straightforward manner to mixed media with a ‘twist.’”
A member of MTSU’s art faculty since 1971, Nuell said, “The faculty represent years of experience of productive work as evidenced by the extensive and ongoing record of exhibitions in juried and invitational shows. Each faculty member is an active, working artist and visual art educator.
“Their personal work is invaluable to them and to their students, all of whom learn from the efforts and successes of their mentors in the art studio,” he noted.
On the heels of the faculty show, an inaugural Alumni Art Show featuring works by 20 graduates of the MTSU art department—including Howard Hull, the first graduate of the program in 1960—will open in the Todd Art Gallery on Sept. 18 and run through Oct. 8.
Also free and open to the public, the alumni show will highlight works by participating artists who have settled in various parts of the country.
Each alumni artist, Nuell said, remains active in some aspect of art production.
• GALLERY HOURS: The Todd Gallery, located on the MTSU campus, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. each Monday through Friday and closed on state-approved holidays.
For more information, including gallery parking information, please call the gallery at 615-898-5653.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For additional information regarding faculty or alumni artists, or to interview the gallery’s curator, please contact Dr. Lon Nuell directly at 615-898-2505.