Art+Design faculty show returns to Brandstater Gallery

The Art+Design Faculty Exhibit opened Jan. 17 and will offer an opportunity to interact with the artists during a gallery reception on Sunday, Jan. 22, 6 – 8 p.m. An artists’ panel discussion will be held at 6:45 p.m.

“I am excited to present the faculty exhibit in the Brandstater Gallery after a six-year hiatus,” said gallery director and associate art professor Tim Musso who is among the show participants. “This exhibit gives students and gallery visitors an insight into the diverse body of professional art and design work created by the full-time and part-time faculty members who teach in Art+Design.

“Additionally, I like that students get a chance to see what their professors are up to outside of the teaching part of their lives,” he said. “We all have active studio practices that often get exhibited far and wide, but rarely all together on campus where everyone can see the faculty work in one location.”

The artists will display works of various sizes created with a wide range of media including acrylic paint on canvas, Crayola Crayons on paper, woodcut prints, graphite and torn paper, water color, pastel and gold leaf, and stoneware sculpture.

Exhibitors include Musso who teaches design fundamentals, printmaking and several other classes, Terrill Thomas, department chair and associate professor teaching photography, graphic design, web design, and Adobe programs among others, and adjuncts Rick Caughman, painting instructor; Erynn Richardson, drawing and color instructor; Camilla Taylor, art history and contemporary art teacher; Annemarie Gregory, art history classes instructor; B. Neimeth, ceramics instructor; and Jenene Nagy, painting teacher.

“I like to foster having the courage to try something new." -- Rick Caughman, artist, Art+Design adjunct faculty member

Caughman is exhibiting two pieces – a 36-by-55-inch framed acrylic painting on canvas titled “Another Fine Day,” and a 36-by-52-inch rendering in crayon on paper titled “Cicada.” The latter work was created, he said, “as a response to the 17-year life cycle of the cicada,” the longest-known life span of the insect world. The first piece grew from within the artist, “inspired by a place in my mind. A place that’s somewhat peaceful, bucolic, and optimistic,” he said.

Caughman began his teaching career at La Sierra more than 35 years ago after graduating from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. While maintaining a steady calendar of commercial clients in advertising design, public art and other avenues, he has pursued a teaching career at La Sierra and many other colleges. He is a prolific fine and commercial artist whose works have appeared in airports, civic centers and corporate environments, with many in permanent regional art collections. As a fine artist, he has exhibited work in galleries around California.

His current range of work includes a digital painting for an offroad race team, a large, ongoing mural in his studio, and a design for a book titled “The World at Night” for the International Union for Conservation of Nature based in Switzerland. Recent completed works include a newly installed 80-foot mural at the Anthony Muñoz Community Center in Ontario. The work was created digitally and printed on ceramic tiles in Montreal, Canada, then installed at the center by local craftsmen.

“I feel it is important to model a professional approach to commissioned or commercial work showing current examples and discussing professional practices in the classroom,” he said, remarking on the lessons he passes along to his students. “One example of this would be public art I’ve produced for the airports and cities. The lesson here encompasses how to respond to an RFQ (Request for Qualifications) and an RFP (Request for Proposals). Public art is a category of art consumption that can be rewarding artistically and financially.

“There are three things I strive to instill in my students,” Caughman said. “I like to foster having the courage to try something new, get a better understanding of the vocabulary of visual art, and become keen observers of the world around them, responding intelligently, technically and artistically.”

The Art+Design Faculty Exhibit is available for viewing in Brandstater Gallery Mon. – Thurs., 12 – 5 p.m. For further information email tmusso@lasierra.edu.