Spring 2020 Herron Highlights

Sarah Lansdell, "The Metamorphosis," 2020. Sarah Lansdell

Every three months, we share a roundup of the latest updates from the Herron community. Here, we've captured student, alumni, and faculty highlights that took place between April and June 2020, including exhibitions, publications, career moves, accomplishments, and accolades.

  • Associate Professor Anila Agha was selected for an appointment as a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow and will be in residence for two months in the near future at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.
  • Madison Anderson (M.F.A. Visual Communication Design '21) was awarded the 2020 William M. Plater Civic Engagement Medallion and named to the Premier 10 of IUPUI's Elite 50. Read a Q-and-A to learn about Anderson's contributions to the campus and local communities while attending Herron.
  • Madison Anderson (M.F.A. Visual Communication Design '21) and photography students Kyle Englert (B.F.A. Photography '20), Julian Jones (B.F.A. Photography '20), Marisa Plummer (B.F.A. Photography '20), and Sierra Wright participated in the 2020 Student Research and Creative Activities Day, held virtually from April 30 to May 1.
  • In homage to the mascot of the South, Toni Ardizzone (B.F.A. '06) created an alligator mural for Thomasville Center for the Art's UnVacant Lot in downtown Thomasville, Ga. Her mural was installed on May 17 and will remain on view until July 17.
  • Isaac Arthur (B.F.A. Visual Communication '09) and Cody Fague (B.F.A. Visual Communication '09), co-founders of the Indianapolis-based branding firm CODO Design, presented a webinar on craft beer branding to a full house on May 7 during the 2020 Craft Brewers Conference.
  • At the school's year-end meeting in May, several faculty and staff awards were announced: Adjunct Instructors Karen Baldner and Earl Snellenberger were awarded the inaugural Adjunct Teaching Awards; Professor Youngbok Hong was awarded the Community Engagement Award; Associate Professor Jennifer Lee was awarded the Trustees' Teaching Award; Technology Manager Jason McClellan was awarded the inaugural Herron Staff Member Award; and Associate Professor Andrew Winship was awarded the Herron Service Award. In addition, the following faculty members received research grants: Alice and Robert Schloss Faculty Support Funds were awarded to Assistant Professor Steven Dana and Associate Professor Reagan Furqueron; R.B. Annis Faculty Innovation and Development Funds were awarded to Associate Professors Robert Horvath and Stefan Petranek; and the Frank C. Springer Family Innovative Faculty Award was presented to Assistant Professor Gurkan Mihci.
  • Marc Barrett (B.F.A. Painting '78) opened a solo exhibition, "A Moment in Time," on May 26 at Arts on Douglas in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. The exhibition will close on July 18.
  • Students Shae Beechler, Joslynne Bolds, Leena Dobouni, Elani Harper, Lynda Howell, Hope Leonard, and Jenna Watkins in Associate Professor Stefan Petranek's sound art class aired their creations on 99.1 WQRT FM. The class consisted of students of both Herron and the Music and Arts Technology program in the School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI.
  • Valve+Meter, a full-service performance marketing agency in Indianapolis, hired Kelly Bohnenkamp (B.F. A. Visual Communications Design '17) in April.
  • Dr. Cindy Bixler Borgmann retired this spring after over 40 years of service in Herron's art education program. Read a Q-and-A on her teaching reflections and how she is going to spend her retirement.
  • Emily Crowel (B.A.E. Art Education '20), Shelby Elrod, (B.F.A. Visual Communication Design '20), Abigail Mendoza (B.F.A. Painting '20), and Dane Wallace (B.F.A. Integrative Studio Practice) were included among this year's IUPUI Top 100. Read the Q-and-As with Crowel, Elrod, Mendoza, and Wallace to learn about their campus leadership and community engagement.
  • In May, the Indiana University Alumni Association (IUAA) bestowed the President's Award to Mary Ann Davis (B.F.A. Printmaking '76), a long-standing member of the Herron Alumni Association Board. The award is presented to the top volunteer leaders who have dedicated extensive service to the IUAA.
  • Vincent Edwards (M.F.A. Visual Art '12) and Associate Professor Katie Hudnall exhibited at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio, in "WOOD: Works Made Of, By, or About Wood." The exhibition was shown virtually on Google Poly due to social distancing measures.
  • "Coastal Connection: The Rising Tide," a proposal by Professor Valerie Eickmeier, was selected for funding under the IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Program.
  • During the 2020 Indy Design Week conference, which took place virtually from May 4 to 8, Luis Garcia, a graduate student in visual communication design, presented on the subject of design as a catalyst for social change. In June, during the 16th Biennial Participatory Design Conference in Maizales, Columbia, Garcia's work was presented in the online exhibition of student projects.
  • Heston Godby (B.F.A. Visual Communication Design '19) created 40 digital portraits for Billboard's complete list of the greatest pop stars, including rookies and comebacks of every year, from 1981 to 2019.
  • In March, Associate Professor Laura Holzman, a public scholar of curatorial practices and visual art, published an essay in Art History Teaching Resources on a course that she taught while working closely with the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, titled "Teaching with the museum: Partnership as pedagogy." The Indianapolis Business Journal published an op-ed by Holzman the following month. In addition, Holzman was chosen for the 2020-21 Next Generation 2.0 cohort and will begin the nine-month leadership development program starting in September. She will commence a nine-month program.
  • Professor Youngbok Hong was awarded the Outstanding Advisor of the Year for her work with the IUPUI IDEA Fellows.
  • Michael Koerner (B.F.A. Printmaking '96) exhibited several limited edition archival pigment prints in "Re-See," an Artsy-exclusive online exhibition presented by Independent & Image Art Space. "Re-See" opened on June 6 and continues through July 18.
  • Drawing and illustration student Sara Lansdell was accepted into the Society of Illustrators' 2020 Student Scholarship Competition. Her piece, "The Metamorphosis," was selected from thousands of student entries submitted by college-level professors across the country and exhibited online.
  • Assistant Professor Gurkan Mihci exhibited in the online media art project "EPHEMERAL SPACES," which was curated by Héctor González and Alexandra Ehrlich Speiser.
  • Professor Emeritus David Morrison and Associate Professor Danielle Riede exhibited in "Playtime: From Innocence to Debauchery," an Artsy.net-exclusive online exhibition presented by their gallery, Garvey | Simon. Morrison also exhibited in "Manic Botanic," an online exhibition presented by the Blue Review Project Space and curated by Garvey | Simon and Dina Brodsky. "Manic Botanic" opened virtually on June 18 and runs until Sept. 17.
  • Associate Professor Pamela Napier and David M. Craig, professor of religious studies at the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, were named recipients of the Charles R. Bantz Chancellor's Community Fellowship Award for 2020. For one year, the award will support their research project to enhance public participation in the Healthy Indiana Plan, an affordable health care program for low-income adults, including the development of an interfaith campaign.
  • Scott Osborne (B.F.A. Sculpture '19) created and installed a butterfly garden sculpture, titled "The Life Cycle," at the Monon Depot in Carmel, Ind. The sculpture was commissioned by the Carmel Clay Historical Society and unveiled virtually on June 13.
  • The Indiana University Board of Trustees appointed William Potter to full professor in April. Potter joined Herron in 2001 and has made many contributions to the school through his roles as the Director of Foundation Studies, Faculty President, and Chair of Tenure and Promotion, as well as his current role as Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs.
  • Brian Presnell (B.F.A. Furniture Design '96), owner of Indy Urban Hardwood, worked with Chandler Bryant, director of natural resources at Newfields, to create a bench for the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park. The bench was created of lumber milled on site at Newfields and made possible by the Pettingill family.
  • Marna Shopoff (M.F.A. Visual Art '14) exhibited in "CHROMA," an exclusive online show presented by Jonathan Ferrara Gallery. The exhibition opened June 3 and runs until July 17.
  • On June 17, Cynthia Wagner (B.F.A. Painting '06) opened a solo exhibition, "Feminists, Goddesses, and Rebel Saints: Hacking Away at Gender Subjugation and the M Word – Misogyny," at Lowe Mill ARTS and Entertainment in Huntsville, Ala. The exhibition will close on Aug. 1.
  • Two works by Robert Young (B.F.A. General Fine Arts '13) were accepted into the online collection of American Illustration 39, a juried annual competition featuring established and emerging artists who push the boundaries of commercial illustration.

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