Visit to Ole Miss

I have a new friend. It is the Ole Miss Art Department. After spending Thursday down there doing critiques with art students, giving a gallery talk and going to a faculty party (and birthday celebration) I feel a real fondness and respect for the whole community there. The vibe is distinctly positive and warm. At the party, all of these colleagues seemed to feel genuinely pleased to be in each other's company. It helped that we were surrounded by these huge, exuberant, mouth-watering (and way-goofy) paintings by Lou Haney. They set the tone nicely. It also helped that there were three or four awesome kids cruising around through the party and snaking under table-legs. I was very impressed by the student art that I saw in the critiques I had with BFA and MFA students. Even if the quality of the work had not been high (it was) the diversity of the work would speak highly of the quality of teaching going on there. The main painting professor, Phillip Jackson, paints representationally and in a traditional mode, none of the students that I saw did. They all had carved out very unique directions for themselves.

Now I have to admit that there is a certain glory to being able to parachute into a place, offer the key nuggets of teaching that I have up my sleeve (mostly stolen from friends) and head out. I can also say things that are very blunt, being that I am free of the concerns of the regular faculty, that of carefully building a relationship of trust by slowly increasing the intensity of criticism. I can just say something like, “What are you doing with wood? These are very boring and seem like you don’t know why you are doing them.” And then I leave. Well, I try to actually be useful. So it was fun. I felt like an art super-hero.

I do also feel compelled to mention that when I was down in Miss. a few weeks ago to set up my show I saw the campus a bit and then when I was back here in Memphis in my classroom I was SO happy to see all of the misfits and the quirky weirdos that make up the student body here. The diversity in my classes really makes teaching a joy. I don’t mean just racial diversity either.

Oh, here are a few animal videos and kids things that my son and I watched together.
Incy Wincy Spider (Indian Style)
Moose Soccer
Elephant Painting