[164] MTSU art department welcomes community to free Nov. 4 open house

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — MTSU's Department of Art and Design has special Saturday plans for the community: an afternoon open house welcoming anyone intrigued by fine art and the myriad methods of creating it.

Organizers say the free Nov. 4 public event, set from 12:30 to 3 p.m. inside MTSU's Todd Hall, should be of particular interest to high school students, art teachers, transfer students, community college faculty members and MTSU students, faculty, alumni and supporters.

Todd Hall is located in the heart of the MTSU campus at 542 Old Main Circle. A campus map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap; parking for the open house is available behind the building in the Jones Hall Lot.

Along with special building tours that will include the internationally recognized Todd Art Gallery and its adjoining TAG West Gallery and TAG 210 Student Art Gallery, Saturday's events will include demonstrations of encaustic painting, button-making, 3-D printing, etching and inking, metal-casting, bookbinding and letterpress printing. Guests also can have their portfolios reviewed by MTSU art faculty, and a scavenger hunt will reward participants with prizes.

Visitors also can enjoy showcases of student painting, sculpture, printmaking, clay, graphic design, book arts, letterpress printing, art education and art history.

MTSU's Department of Art and Design, which is part of the university's College of Liberal Arts, trains students in a facility that features four graphic design computer labs; large format and 3-D printers; a computer room in all studio spaces; a smokeless, environmentally-friendly outdoor kiln and a Blauuw kiln; a plasma cutter; welding station; three laser engravers; a working replica 18th-century printing press, two Vandercook presses and lithography and etching presses; a Hollander pulp beater; a photo-polymer platemaker; and a wood shop, foundry and silkscreen studio.

It offers undergraduate degree programs in art education, art history, art practices, art studio and graphic design.

The department also regularly invites local and regional artists and nationally and internationally known artists to exhibit in the Todd Art Gallery, conduct workshops and lecture in classes.

For more information about MTSU's Department of Art and Design, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/art. For information about the Nov. 4 open house, email Noel.Lorson@mtsu.edu.