Work of prolific Georgia sculptor on exhibit at Brenau
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A selection of work by William J. Thompson, a prolific Georgia sculptor and former University of Georgia art professor, is currently on exhibit at Brenau University’s Presidents Gallery.
A reception celebrating the exhibit Gestures of Faith will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 4. The reception and the exhibit are free and open to the public.
The estate of his wife, Claire Thompson, donated an extensive collection of work by her late husband to Brenau University Galleries in 2022. The Thompson collection consists of 68 works by the sculptor and printmaker that span the artist’s career from the 1950s to his death in 1995.
The sculptures in the collection represent a variety of media, including stone, wood, bronze and polyester resin. Most of his works carry religious and spiritual themes influenced by his Catholic faith.
“Brenau is honored to be the recipient of this significant collection to its permanent collection, the second-largest in the state of Georgia,” Galleries Director Lybi Cucurullo said. “This acquisition fulfills Claire Thompson’s vision for preserving and presenting her husband’s artistic legacy. The collection is an invaluable resource, offering students and art historians unparalleled access to the profound ‘language of vision and volume’ that defined William J. Thompson’s celebrated career.”
Thompson studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design and earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in Michigan. His influences included Auguste Rodin, Georges Rouault, Ernst Barlach and Jacob Epstein. In 1964, Thompson joined the art staff at the University of Georgia at the invitation of then-professor and director Lamar Dodd. The school’s sculpture studio was later named in Thompson’s honor.
Though Thompson was primarily a sculptor, the collection includes several etchings, lithographs, watercolors and plaster casts. A large number of archival materials of photographic enlargements and architectural commissions depict his artistic process and commissions — a record invaluable to art students and historians.
The collection also includes seven portrait plaster casts used in commissions to commemorate luminaries such as Robert W. Woodruff, Lamar Dodd, Hubert Owen, Eugene Odum, Sam Kauffman, Louis Griffith and Gudmund Vigtel for their contributions to UGA or the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.
Several Thompson sculptures are on public display across Georgia and, therefore, not included in the collection acquired by Brenau. The best-known is a nine-foot-tall bronze sculpture at Andersonville National Park dedicated on Memorial Day in 1976.
Tokie Rome-Taylor explores culture, diaspora in solo exhibit
Atlanta-based visual artist Tokie Rome-Taylor will exhibit at Brenau’s Leo Castelli Gallery in January.
The exhibit, I wove the archives in the light of southern exposure, opens Jan. 24 and will run through mid-April. Her works explore ethnography, identity, history, and memory, featuring photography and cyanotype as a medium. Centering children as her subjects, her practice investigates familial and cultural archives of African Americans in the South through what has been shared and passed down.
“Tokie Rome-Taylor’s work takes a look at the diaspora of Black Southerners and remains relevant today,” Brenau Galleries Director Lybi Cucurullo said. “Her work embodies resiliency, especially with the use of child subjects. The children will grow up and eventually become integral parts of American and Southern culture, expanding the concept of heritage. Her botanical motifs also serve as nods to resiliency and healing, be it nourishment, medicinal or otherwise.”
An opening reception will be held at 6 p.m. on Jan. 24, and features a dance performance by Brenau’s Dance Department. Rome-Taylor will speak briefly at 6:30 p.m.
Rome-Taylor has more than 20 years experience as an educator and working artist. Her work is held in multiple private and institutional collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art – Georgia, The Fralin Museum at the University of Virginia, and the Southeastern Museum of Photography. She has an extensive national and international exhibition record including the Atlanta Contemporary, the Fralin Museum, The Southeastern Museum of Photography, The Griffin Museum of Photography, SP-Foto SP-Arte Fair in São Paulo, Brazil, and the Zuckerman Museum of Art, amongst others. Her full artist statement and CV are available here.
Student work on display at High Museum this winter
Students from Brenau University’s Center for Art and Design will showcase their work in a
student exhibition at the High Museum of Art this winter.
“Our students demonstrate both talent and technique in the selected work, but this opportunity
also offers practical skill development that every artist needs to know,” Brenau Galleries Director
Lybi Cucurullo said. “Through this partnership, our students gain real-life experience of
successfully exhibiting at a major museum, and the pride that comes along with sharing your
work with the greater community.”
The exhibition includes paintings, charcoal drawings, photography, posters, prints, ceramics, clothing, and interior design boards.
An opening reception on Sunday, Nov. 17, kicked off the exhibit in the Stent Family Education
Wing of the museum. The show runs until Jan. 5, 2025.
The partnership between the museum and Brenau dates back more than a decade.
Through the partnership, the High has hosted a similar show featuring Brenau student artwork
annually since 2013, except during 2021 and 2022. The exhibition returned in 2023.
“Since we began working with Brenau in 2010, we have enjoyed a wonderful, mutually
beneficial partnership that has continued to reap benefits for the museum and the university,”
said Andrew Westover, the High’s Eleanor McDonald Storza director of education. “We
collaborate with students through on-site projects at the museum, like this exhibition, which
allows us to engage with the next generation of creatives and thinkers. We look forward to
seeing their artworks and to more projects in the future.”
Exhibit featured on WABE’s City Lights with Lois Reitzes
Brenau University’s Director of Galleries Lybi Cucurullo and Atlanta artist Alexi Torres were featured on the Oct. 31 episode of City Lights with Lois Reitzes.
The show airs on WABE 90.1 FM, Atlanta’s National Public Radio affiliate. Reitzes covers Atlanta culture, including art, food, entertainment and more. City Lights began in 2015, but Reitzes has been hosting on WABE since 1979.
Torres’ solo exhibition Unbrainwashable continues at Brenau through Nov. 9 and features contemporary sculptures, installments and large scale oil paintings that emphasize the importance of thinking for oneself.
Torres was born in Bermeja, Cuba, a small village about 70 miles southeast of Havana. He came to the United States in 2003 and maintains a studio in Atlanta. Much of his work is political in nature, and reflections of life under communism and political unrest in Cuba.
“I came to the United States, and I was so surprised you could say and do whatever you wanted because all of my art was trying to say something you couldn’t say, and here I had the freedom to express myself as I wanted,” Torres said.
Cucurullo, who also curated Torres’ show at Brenau, explained the curation of his work as a solo show.
“He’s working more, in my opinion, conceptually with these topics,” she said. “I think that seeing the work relate to itself, one piece to the next, there’s quite a beautiful flow. The way that it’s curated inside of our gallery space, definitely amplifies that.”
She also spoke about her plans for Brenau Galleries.
“What I’m looking forward to the most is expanding our community outreach,” Cucurullo said. “We have a beautiful permanent collection here, and we have really talented artists that are coming through, but getting it out into the public is my goal right now.“
Lybi Cucurullo joins Brenau as gallery director
Lybi Cucurullo, a conceptual artist and former Brenau professor, has been appointed as the new Director of Galleries.
In her new role, Cucurullo will be responsible for overseeing Brenau’s five exhibition spaces and the university’s extensive collection of over 3,500 works from both internationally and nationally renowned artists, as well as local talent. These galleries play a vital role in serving as both an educational and cultural resource for Northeast Georgia through providing free public programming and exhibitions.
“I taught at Brenau as an adjunct last year and formed a great connection with my students,” Cucurullo. “I’m excited to expand the opportunities the galleries here have to offer, both to our student body and to the local community. We have so many amazing shows and exhibitions coming up and I can’t wait to connect students with local artists.”
(Sidney Chansamone/Brenau University)
Cucurullo’s prior experience as an educator in higher education and public-school systems will be instrumental in providing engaging and informative programming alongside exhibitions. Her dedication to community outreach, with a focus on the arts and education, will play a vital role in supporting the ongoing growth of Gainesville’s vibrant artistic community.
Cucurullo earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Central Florida in 2011 and her Masters of Fine Arts from CUNY Brooklyn College in 2019. She was awarded the Wolff Ravenal grant for research in Utah while studying at CUNY, and was an artist in residence at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild in Woodstock, New York, after graduating and again in 2024. She was also the artist in residence at A.I.R. Studio in Paducah, Kentucky, in the winter of 2020 and 2022. Her artistic contributions have been showcased nationwide, particularly in New York, throughout the Hudson Valley, and across Georgia.
Her conceptual art is centered around exploring the concepts of cycles in nature. Through abstracted, natural imagery, Cucurullo aims to convey the relationship and balance between what is constant and what is unpredictable.
“Abstracted landscapes provide a comfort in recognition, while simultaneously stirring up discomfort in that which cannot be recognized or understood,” Cucurullo said in her artist statement. “My work strives to invite viewers to enter a liminal space, to oscillate between knowing and unknowing, and to recognize that we are intrinsically a part of the ebb and flow of nature – and that in that knowing – there is comfort.”
Brenau University’s permanent art collection was established in 1986, and it currently includes three gallery spaces on Brenau’s Gainesville campus: the Presidents Gallery, Sellars Gallery in the Simmons Visual Arts Center, and Leo Castelli Gallery in the John S. Burd Center for Performing Arts. Additionally, there are two galleries located on the Downtown Campus: the Manhattan Gallery in the Brenau Downtown Center and the gallery on the Gainesville Renaissance first floor.
Throughout the year, the galleries host multiple exhibits that are open to the public, including a recent display of over 60 print works created by Pablo Picasso at the Sellars Gallery during October and November.
Alexi Torres solo exhibit on display at Brenau this fall
Atlanta artist Alexi Torres will present Unbrainwashable at Brenau University this fall. The solo exhibit features contemporary sculptures, installments and large scale oil paintings that emphasize the importance of thinking for oneself.
Torres was born in Bermeja, Cuba, a small village about 70 miles southeast of Havana. He came to the United States in 2003 and maintains a studio in Atlanta. Much of his work is political in nature, and reflections of life under communism and political unrest in Cuba.
“My art seeks to initiate a dialogue on the effects and power of human thought and behavior on our everyday reality,” Torres said in his artist statement. “Following universal laws, I find the connection between spirituality and politics, richness and acceptance.”
With an emphasis on collective memory, Torres engages his audience with playful themes and irony that are relevant to what he calls “the contemporary experience.”
“My series subjects range from portraits of ordinary people, culture, and military to a diverse sampling of symbols from popular culture,” Torres said. “These images are then reimagined and reconstructed employing a complex unique multi-layer painting technique, bronze sculptures and objects.”
Brenau Galleries will host an opening night reception from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Leo Castelli Art Gallery on Brenau’s historic Gainesville campus. The artist will discuss his life and work at 6:45 p.m. in Redwine Lobby in the John S. Burd Center for the Performing Arts.
Torres studied at Escuela Provicial de Artes in Mantanzas, Cuba, and at Escuela Nacional de Artes in Havana. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions both in the United States and abroad, including at Unix Gallery in New York City, the Digital Museum of Modern Art in Switzerland, and the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art in Marietta, Georgia. His art can also be found in public and private collections, such as The Rice Collection of Cuban Art, Delta Airlines in Atlanta, and actor Will Smith’s private collection.
In addition to exhibits and collections, his work has been featured in numerous publications, including Hi Fructose, the Huffington Post, and the Daily Mail UK. He has received multiple awards and accolades.
More about Alexi Torres and his work can be found on his website.
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- Love is in the Air
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- Dream Home
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- Meditation with Tea
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- Intuition
Avian Song: Natural History Works from Brenau University’s Permanent Art Collection On View in Brenau’s Renaissance Gallery
AVIAN SONG: Natural History Works from Brenau University’s Permanent Art Collection
The natural history collection on display in Brenau University’s Renaissance Gallery opening April 11th and running through December 5th, encompasses artworks dating from the 1700s to the present, drawing from Brenau University’s Graham Arader Art Collection. These carefully selected original watercolors, lithographs, and engravings vividly capture avian subjects in their natural habitats.
Established by Graham Arader in collaboration with Dr. Michael Stubblefield, the Arader Art Fund at Brenau University is dedicated to expanding its collection of the university’s natural history artwork and integrating them into its academic curriculum.
Since its inception in late 2018, the Fund has facilitated the acquisition of over 700 pieces, enriching Brenau’s campus with a wealth of artistic representations of the natural world.
This initiative enables Brenau to offer students unparalleled access to an extensive array of natural history art, fostering meaningful integration of artistic expression across various disciplines. With boundless potential for curricular adaptation across departments, this program aims to immerse students in the intersection of art and science, enhancing their educational experience and appreciation for the natural world.
-Gena Brodie Robbins, Director of Galleries and Curator of Permanent Collections
Avian Song will have its opening reception on April 18th during the Historic Gainesville Art Walk from 2-8 PM.
Renaissance Gallery is located on the square at 106 Spring Street, Gainesville, GA 30501
Jenny Bishop Heaton to Show at Leo Castelli Gallery Opening April 4th, 2024
Jenny Bishop Heaton: Lavish Delights
Opening Reception: April 4th, 5:30-7 PM
Artist Talk 6PM
Leo Castelli Gallery, John S. Burd Center for Performing Arts
429 Academy Street, Gainesville, Ga 30501
Georgia artist, Jenny Bishop Heaton (aka Virginia) is an active and proficient artist in Metro Atlanta. Heaton will be having a solo exhibition at Brenau University’s Leo Castelli Gallery, from April 4th – May 30th, 2024.
Heaton’s solo exhibition, Lavish Delights, will feature a wide range of works consisting of altered silkscreened prints, paintings, drawings, and digital works on paper.
The extensive knowledge of the mediums in which Heaton works is evident throughout her playful, daring, and colorful explorations; boldly investigating themes of the abstracted figure and form using a myriad of mediums. Her repeated layers of carefully placed abstract shapes, combined with delightful, whimsical lines are an evidential nod toward intuitive expression and improvisation.
Jenny Bishop Heaton in her studio discussing her printmaking process.
Jenny Bishop Heaton holds up one of the many silkscreens she uses to create her limited edition prints and one-of-a-kind prints.
Heaton’s love of decorative patterns has led her to embrace a new form of art application with Heaton’s Art Apparel, her line of clothing, and home fashions.
–Gena Brodie Robbins, Director of Galleries
Heaton earned a BFA studying graphic and fine arts from Auburn University with a concentration in figure drawing. She produced a thesis in fashion illustration and then furthered her education with graduate studies in psychology and education at Georgia State University. Her varied creative interests also include a fascination for studying and drawing floor plans. Heaton created house plans to scale for her current home with final plans and architectural elevations professionally executed by Walker Candler, an Atlanta architect.
Multiple prints by Jenny Bishop Heaton, altered and embellished with colored paint pens, marker, ink, and drawing media.
Heaton has lived in forested areas much of her life and draws inspiration from nature’s curvilinear lines, biomorphic shapes, and myriad colors. She has taught and continually studies art, most recently with California artist Robert Burridge, and Georgia artists Gena Brodie Robbins, Helen DeRamus, and Leslie Newman. Heaton enjoys taking part in juror-selected art shows. Anderson Arts Center, Dalton Creative Arts Guild, Cobb Arts Alliance, Tannery Row Artist Colony, and Quinlan Visual Arts Center are among the art centers whose jurors selected Heaton’s works for awards. A recent multi-media piece was chosen for the Hudgens Center for the Arts permanent collection. She has had numerous one-person shows, including a solo show in the Main Gallery of Dalton Creative Arts Guild; and recently had the honor of holding a solo show in Gallery 4945 of the former Highpoint Episcopal Church, Sandy Springs, Atlanta. Her art is in collections in the US, Japan, The Netherlands, India, and Denmark.
Brenau’s Fashion Department Presents: A walk-In through Princess Shirazi’s Closet – A Historic Clothing Collection Exhibition
Come join the Brenau Center for the Arts – Fashion Program, as they unveil the magnificent collection of Princess Lucie Jadot Shirazi from the Historic Fashion Collection.
Brenau acquired her collection in 1996 after her demise in 1994.
Princess Lucie Jadot Shiraz was married to one of the sons of the Shah of Iran, and was known for her philanthropic work as one of the founders of the World Wildlife Fund. She was also an enthusiastic patron of all things Art & Design, and was notably captivated by Metropolitan Opera and Polonaise Ball, serving as a chairwoman of the Polonaise Ball
In addition to highlighting the exquisite ensembles of the Shirazi Collection at Brenau University, the exhibit is a great resource for our fashion students, including our costume and art students. To be able to view some of these pieces – see how they were constructed, and gain insight of the actual silhouettes, is experiential learning at its best!
Artist talk will be on March 14 at 6 p.m. with a dessert reception from 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Gallery Location: Presidents Gallery, Second Floor of the Simmons Visual Arts Center, Brenau University
200 Boulevard, Gainesville Ga.\
FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC
This exhibit was developed and promoted by the College of Art and Design Department and curated by Dr. Priya Pandy
Brenau’s Director of Galleries and Curator of Permanent Art Collections, Gena Brodie Robbins Talks on NPR, WABE with Lois Reitzes’ City Lights Radio Show
Brenau University Director of Galleries, Gena Brodie Robbins talks with Lois Reitzes on WABE/NPR’s City Lights discussing Brenau’s extensive and impressive permanent art collection. Robbins reveals the very beginnings of the collection, sharing how Brenau acquired its very first pieces and the integral connection between Dr. John S. Burd, Brenau’s 8th President, and the famed N.Y. art dealer, collector, and agent responsible for helping Dr. Burd develop Brenau’s world-class permanent art collection.
Robbins also shared with Lois about the current exhibitions on view at Brenau Galleries and its partnership with the High Museum as well as its outreach program, Free Art Friday.
To listen to the City Lights segment with Lois Reitzes, tune in to WABE 90.1 at 11 AM and 8 PM on Feb. 20th, or go online to WABE.org to listen online.