Athens, Ga. – Students in the visual arts face a very different job market landscape than their counterparts in business or pharmacy or engineering, many of whom are recruited into junior-level and even management-track positions upon graduation. After four years gaining great depth in their chosen discipline, visual arts students are likely to be faced with daunting entrepreneurial prospects for the very first time.
In this context, the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art will host its first ever Professional Practices Week, Oct. 20-23. The scheduled talks, lectures and panel discussions will bring visual artists working in a variety of careers to campus, and culminate with an open house for prospective students on Saturday, Oct. 23. The events of the week, outlined below, are free and the public is invited to attend.
On Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 5:30 p.m. in room S101 of the art school, UGA alumna Caroline Maddox will moderate a Professional Practice Panel on Careers in the Visual Arts. Maddox, who has a master’s degree in art business from the University of Manchester through a joint program with Sotheby’s Institute of Art, will be joined on the panel by Atlanta artist Susan Cofer; Dennis Harper, curator of collections and exhibitions at the Julie Collins Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University; Mary Stanley, a curator and gallery owner in Atlanta; and Chris Wyrick, owner of Mercury Art Work in Athens.
On Thursday, Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m. in room C301, artist Susan Cofer will give a gallery talk on her current exhibition in the art school.
On Friday, Oct. 22 at 5:30 p.m. in room S101, assistant professor of fabric design Clay McLaurin will moderate a Professional Practice Panel on Careers in Design. McLaurin will be joined on the panel by Suzanne Allen, owner of Suzanne B. Allen & Company Design, LLC in Athens; Jen Crenshaw of Constance Crenshaw Designs; Lisa Fiscus, owner of Hawthorne House Antiques & Interiors; and David Matheny, architect with Armentrout Roebuck Matheny Consulting group in Athens.
“We feel that our students are among the best and the brightest in the country and as they move into the work world, having the support, mentorship and guidance of successful practitioners enhances what we’re doing in the classroom,” says Georgia Strange, director of the art school. “The emphasis we place on creativity and visual thinking, makes our students very adaptable, and this flexible way of thinking opens them up to a huge variety of potential careers.”
The Lamar Dodd School of Art is located at 270 River Road on the UGA campus; S150 is located on the first floor of the building. For further information, see http://art.uga.edu.