041 COSTUMES BY MTSU FACULTY MEMBER ON DISPLAY AT ALABAMA GALLERY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 29, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919

Nearly Two Decades of ‘Wearable Art’ Created by Gann-Smith Focus of Exhibit

(MURFREESBORO, Tenn.)—Nearly two decades of costumes and wearable art created by Lori Gann-Smith, an assistant professor in MTSU’s speech and theatre department, will be on display Sept. 1-28 at the Alabama A&M University Art Gallery (AAMU) in Norman, Ala.
Regarding her current exhibit of art apparel—which features pieces made of hand-dyed silk and peacock feathers as well as wire and garbage bags—Gann-Smith said, “Most people on earth wear some type of clothing on a regular basis from within the first hours of birth until they die.
“In fact,” she added, “most of us are laid to rest in clothing. For centuries, clothing and adornment have been the indicators of status and station, of conformity and rebellion, of tastes and attitudes. Acceptance, disguise, impression and recognition all hinge in some degree upon what we wear. …”
An award-winning artist and costume/makeup/props designer, Gann-Smith said, “The show is basically a retrospective of my work, representing pieces that I designed and created as far back as during my undergraduate days here at MTSU and throughout my professional career.
“The work includes both costumes designed for specific show as well as pieces of wearable art,” she continued. “Most of the wearable art is very whimsical and playful, as I see what we wear as a reflection of our personalities or character, and I tend toward the whimsical and playful.”
Gann-Smith—whose on-campus office also displays a few of her costume designs—said that although she had not pursued a formal exhibit opportunity, when the invitation to show her pieces was extended by AAMU, she was delighted to share her art with others.
“Some of the wearable pieces reflect my interests in playing with what is acceptable and unacceptable in our culture and what things should be like as opposed to the way they are,” she noted. “I think there is a very fine line between clothing and costume.” Related to this, the Murfreesboro-based designer remarked, “As we examine clothing, or costume, throughout history, we see patterns in ‘periodic style’ and identify the clothing of an age with that prevalent style and not by the individual's choice of what he or she would like to have worn. People wore what was proper. … . Or improper. Even ‘radicals’ had a dress code that set them apart and served as an identifier of their politics, religious preference or some other predilection.
Gann-Smith, who maintains a private studio where she creates art apparel and commissioned works, has designed for a number of producing organizations and production companies including the Georgia Repertory Theatre, Arkansas Repertory,

Nashville Shakespeare Festival, University of Georgia, MTSU Theatre, Georgia College and University, and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, among many others.
Additionally, her work is contained in the 2005 comedy titled “Tom and Francie,” a feature film recently released on DVD. Gann-Smith also garnered a Tennessean Theatre Award for best Costume Design for the designs she created for the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
The AAMU Art Gallery, located in the Morrison Fine Arts Building, is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and on weekends by appointment. Admission is free and open to the public, including an artist’s reception in honor of Gann-Smith, which will be held 6-8 p.m. on the closing night of the exhibit, Sept. 28.
For more information regarding Gann-Smith’s exhibit at AAMU, including directions to the gallery, please contact the gallery directly at 256-372-4072.


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