Tag: Art exibition

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Campus News

Ted Murphy Legacy

Ted Murphy standing in front of Gallery wall
Ted Murphy standing in front of Gallery wall - Courtesy Kaitlyn Avery
By Evan Babbitt ('25)

UPDATED: OCTOBER 8, 2024 7:32 PM EDT | ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER 4, 2024 11:50 AM EDT

The Ortlip Gallery will host a reception for the Ted Murphy Legacy exhibition on Saturday at 7 p.m. 

The show is composed of 77 alumni artists and includes over 80 pieces—ranging from landscapes to abstracts, and watercolors to fabrics. It celebrates Professor Ted Murphy’s 38 years of teaching art and art history at Houghton University. 

“It means a great deal to me,” Prof. Murphy said. “It is visual evidence of not only my influence on past students but our entire department’s.”

According to the Gallery Director, Linda Knapp, about 80% of the alumni represented in the show are full time artists. Murphy also notes that 12 of the alumni shown are now professors as well. 

“Many are professional artists,” he said. “Some just manage to continue to work despite their complicated lives with family and their other work. It is gratifying to see such outstanding work from these wonderful people.” 

One of the alumni presenting work in the show, Jeff Babbitt (Class of ‘96), recalled: “It was during Painting I class with Murph when I decided I wanted to major in art. Murph was the perfect combination of hilarious and brilliant. He was a true connoisseur of the liberal arts, seamlessly blending literature, history, and culture into classroom discussions and everyday conversation.” 

Knapp noted that a flood of people wanted to be in the show when asked, which stands as a testament to Prof. Murphy’s presence in the classroom.

“[Murphy] is really adept artistically and has created a safe space for generations of students to find their calling as artists,” Knapp commented. “He has influenced people by his works, but more greatly by who he is—not flashy, but by his daily interactions and listening ear.” 

People are flying in from the Netherlands and California to come to this show, Knapp added.

“Houghton has [had] a rich art tradition here long before I arrived,” Prof. Murphy said. “The artist that preceded me fought the good fight to make Art matter.”

Prof. Murphy finished his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1980 at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, and then received his Master of Fine Arts in 1983 at The Ohio State University. Before coming to HU he was an assistant professor at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine.

“[T]o be a teacher you must have students. But nowhere is it required that we like them,” Prof. Murphy noted. “Just teach them.”

Many who came into the art program were glad to be able to study art seriously and have many mediums to work with. Prof. Murphy feels blessed to have students who he loves and appreciates.

“In the twilight of a career,” he said, “every person is aware of the question Henry James said we should all ask. “Was it worth it”? I believe it has all been worth it. It has been a very privileged life here in Houghton. Nancy and I raised our children here and by their reports they each also love this place. God has blessed us beyond measure.”

Prior to the beginning of the show’s reception will be an open panel discussion hosted by alumni artists at 4 p.m. in the CFA Recital Hall. ★

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Campus News

The Senior Art Show

Senior Art Show Poster - Courtesy of Houghton Art Department
By Rebecca Dailey ('25)

This Friday, on April 12, the 2024 Senior Art Show will open in the Ortlip Gallery in the Center for the Arts. Thirteen senior art students will be showcasing their work in tonight’s gallery, including, Tamara Edwards (‘24), Aubree Niles (‘24), Hannah Smith (‘24) and Savannah Stitt (‘24). Various art pieces such as paintings, sculptures and photography will be displayed throughout the gallery for viewer appreciation. 

Professor John Rhett is the Senior Art faculty advisor and instructor for Senior seminar and Studio. His main goal is making sure the students exhibit a maturity within the medium of their choice.

“We are creative beings, God is the Heavenly creator,” Professor Rhett stated. “There is a need to create with these gifts gracefully through challenges and be grateful for them.”

A few seniors took time out of their busy schedules to speak about their work and the gallery.

Smith explained her process around her work, “A big part about it is being balanced and coming to your artwork with a peaceful mind and not cluttered with everything you have to do … I like to think of it as forever honing my craft. I am a tinkerer. I like to play with different mediums. I’m not afraid of losing art and not doing it because I’ve been doing it my whole life.”

Niles has been working in art since childhood. It has been her way of expressing herself even when words cannot. 

“Looking back to my work from freshman year,” Niles stated, “I am blown away by the development of quality and sincerity in my work. I started college with little education on art and had this horrible opinion that abstract art wasn’t art … I quickly learned that abstraction (well, good abstraction) is difficult. I am so thankful that I was taught the importance of abstract work. It reveals something true, raw, and honest about the artist. 

Edwards transferred to Houghton in the Fall of 2022. 

“I learned the importance of process,” Edwards explained, “art develops with time and a support group who challenges me in the quest to understand art not as an individual activity. Individual as an artist but built in community and communication.” 

Stitt reflects on her growth as an artist and in life.

“I have learned that a huge part of growing as an artist involves time, and within that time, experience.” Stitt explained that “Some things are only learned through the process of doing something over and over. And other times, I have grown as an artist because I am growing as a person and that informs and influences my art.” Rhett shared his excitement about seeing the students’ work be displayed and the growth they have shown.

“The show is a time of celebration,” Rhett stated. “They’ve been students their entire lives sitting in class and doing assignments. This is their chance to start taking ownership of who they are as artists.” ★

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Campus News

The 35th Annual Juried Student Show

35th Annual Juried Student Show poster - Courtesy of Linda Knapp
By Rebecca Dailey ('25)

The 35th Annual Juried Student Show Exhibition will open on March 8, 2024 in the Ortlip Gallery, housed in the Center for the Arts. The gallery reception opens at 6:30 p.m. and continues until 8:30 p.m.. Students of both art and non-art majors may participate in the exhibition, and have leeway in both the subject and art form of their works. However, they are limited to the number of works they can enter. The art featured in the exhibition will be a range of ceramics, sculptures, photos, drawings, and oil and watercolor paintings, among others. The exhibition judges will be accompanied by a guest juror, who decides the pieces that will appear in the show, as well as the pieces that will receive awards.

“The Student Juried Show provides a really neat opportunity for students to demonstrate their artistic abilities to their friends, family, and all of us in the Houghton Community,” Professor Linda Knapp, the Ortlip Gallery Director & University Art Collection Manager, stated. “My role as gallery director falls under the leadership of the Art Department. I work alongside our art faculty and help them to make the gallery function smoothly. It’s so much fun to see the different works that get submitted and then solve the puzzle of figuring out how to display them in a way that’s aesthetically and visually pleasing.” 

The Ortlip Gallery has previously featured works from professors of Houghton University and outside artists. 

“The Ortlip Gallery serves to further educate our art major students by exposing them to outside artists, as well allowing our students to have the hands-on experience of displaying their own work in a professional gallery,” Professor Knapp added.

Some of the students entered in the Juried Student Show are Savannah Stitt (‘24), Hannah Smith (‘24), Aubree Niles (‘24) and Aubrey Armes (‘25). 

This is the third year Stitt has displayed her work in the Gallery. She predominantly works with photography, but has submitted oil paintings in the past. 

“In my experience as an artist, I have come to realize two things. I am creative in ways I didn’t realize for a long time, and inspiration comes and goes in waves,” Stitt explained. “It’s important to grab hold of those ideas when they come because they’re not guaranteed to stay.”

Niles is also participating for the third year. Her main art form is oils, but she also works in watercolor, ceramics and photography. 

“Art has been a way for me to process difficult emotions and complex life events,” Niles stated. “My current body of work is especially evident of that. I focus the most on my use of color and brushstrokes to convey emotion.”

Professor Knapp would like to express her gratitude towards being able to open the Juried Student Show and playing a role in the Gallery’s exhibitions. “I love how the Gallery brings us all together into these sacred spaces and moments,” Professor Knapp said, “granting us pause to reflect on our lives and to understand each other better. It has been a real honor for me to be a part of such a successful Art Program here at Houghton, and I just want to send out a big thanks to all the students who have submitted their work for this upcoming show!” ★

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Campus News

Professor John Rhett’s “Self-Evaluation”

By Kelsey Curtis ('27)

This October, Houghton’s Ortlip Art Gallery will host a retrospective exhibition of art by Professor John Rhett. The exhibition, titled “Self-Evaluation”, will open on Friday, Oct. 27, starting at 6 p.m., and feature a gallery talk with Rhett at 7 p.m. The reception will also offer an opportunity for students to earn Around the Table credit for their attendance. The exhibition will share select works from Rhett spanning nearly five decades in art.

Gallery Director, Professor Linda Knapp expressed her excitement for the show, praising Rhett as “such a gifted painter.” Knapp shares her love of Rhett’s perspectives illustrated in his paintings with Rhett’s long-time coworker and friend, Professor Ted Murphy. 

Murphy says he looks forward to seeing the progression of Rhett’s art and that it is valuable for students “to appreciate a painter’s evolution in skill, depth of ideas, experimentation, and maturity.”

Commenting on Rhett’s eye for subject matter, Murphy appreciates how he “paints the ordinary, banal landscape but finds great beauty in the edges and margins—parking lots, street lights, and roadway intersections.” 

Professor Rhett’s process of painting these ordinary landscapes contributes to their beauty as well. For many of his works, Rhett travels and paints what he sees, making an adventure out of his process. He says it forces him to “sit there and work until it is done.”

Murphy and Knapp expressed their gratitude for Rhett’s presence at Houghton and appreciate his contributions to the university.

Professor Rhett finds both professional and personal benefits in his exhibit. Rhett acknowledges that it celebrates his milestone of over 25 years with Houghton, and gives him a chance to reflect on his numerous years in art. Rhett says that although it was an “odd feeling to look back” it was valuable to see how he had progressed over his career.

He explained that looking back has helped him consider his failures and learn to move beyond pieces he hadn’t finished. Mentioning a river study he had done, Rhett realized even though he felt frustrated while painting it, he discovered the value of his work when he saw it apart from his reference. He found this as an example of, “getting out of your own way” and still being able to make something worthwhile.

Rhett drew attention to a set of smaller ink paintings he had done from photos. He recalls enjoying them and said, “Boy, I wish I could paint like that!” Even in his critical appraisal of many of his works, he is still able to appreciate successful moments in his creations.

Rhett will show work that has previously never been seen on display, as well as work from faculty shows over the years. He views his exhibition as a way to show more than just the curiosity and craft of a local art teacher. He believes that artists even in the smallest of communities, like Houghton, have the same integrity and skill as those found in large cities and the exhibition will mirror this idea.

“Self-Evaluation” will be in the Ortlip Gallery until Dec. 15, open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ★

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Stories In Focus

Senior Art Exhibition 2016

On Monday April 18th, the Houghton Art Department opened its annual Student Art Exhibition. At this year’s show, twelve graduating students working toward a BFA in studio art will present work across a range of materials, including drawing, ceramics and sculpture, photography, painting, and mixed media.

“As you get closer to a show, students realize how fast that deadline is approaching,” Cooley said with a chuckle. “But it’s a great learning experience to be put in that situation,” he added, because it forces students to grapple with the realities of the professional world.

artshow2In fact, the Senior Exhibition aims to simulate the practical realities of professional work as fully as possible. “We don’t guarantee anybody to be in the show,” Cooley explained. “You have to present your work, and it has to be approved, just like you would in an actual gallery.” In order to coordinate a successful exhibition, students must consider how each element of the viewing experience coordinates with all the others.

Participating students are also responsible for the practical aspects of the show—such as setting up the gallery and organizing refreshments for the artists’ reception—which provides a glimpse into a visual artist’s day-to-day work. “They all learn in a collaborative effort to pull all those details together,” said Cooley. “It’s a very real-world experience.”

Organizing such a large show with such a diversity of styles can be an exercise in flexibility, but Cooley is confident in the students’ ability to put out their best work. “Somehow every year, we miraculously pull it off,” he mused. “This year’s not any exception—the work is coming out really strong.” The artists have flourished under what Cooley refers to as the “refining pressure” of a hard deadline. “The students are realizing what they’re really capable of doing. As they head into it, it’s this daunting scary thing. But then they realize what they’re really capable of.”

All this work gives students the opportunity to welcome hard-earned encouragement and recognition from the Houghton community. “Exhibiting seniors are working across a broad range of processes to each create a body of work that articulates their voice as an artist in today’s visual culture,” commented Professor Alicia Taylor, director of the Ortlip Gallery. “The senior exhibition is an opportunity for the community to recognize the achievements of our students in the conclusion of their study here as they move forward to engage in communities that reach out beyond our walls.”

Is it difficult to cultivate a show that draws on so many different media and artistic styles? Challenging, perhaps, but rewarding as well. “It’s really interesting to see some of the overlaps, and see where the work speaks to each other. You see some of the influence of the professors, but I intentionally allow them to think in their own ways, to find their own voice and style. They all do have a uniqueness to their work.”

And this diversity makes for a viewing experience that’s never dull. “It makes a very interesting show. It expands the conversation, it gets fun,” Cooley said. With a grin, he added: “You’re certainly not going to get bored.”

The Senior Student Art Exhibition opens at theGallery on Monday, April 18th. An artists’ reception will be held in the CFA atrium at 7 P.M. on Friday, April 22nd, with refreshments to follow.