Art exhibit born at VCU captures award

By Tom Gresham

“Pivot Points,” a traveling exhibit organized by two Virginia Commonwealth University faculty members, was honored this fall with an award by the Southeastern College Art Conference.

The exhibit was recognized with the Award for Outstanding Exhibition and Catalogue of Contemporary Materials during the SECAC annual conference in Little Rock, Ark., in October. “Pivot Points” visited a gallery in Lima, Peru, and five venues across the United States — including the Anderson Gallery at VCU — between October 2003 and March 2005.

Reni Gower, associate professor in VCU’s Department of Painting and Printmaking, and Sally Bowring, adjunct faculty member in the same department and public art coordinator for the city of Richmond, organized the exhibit. A number of faculty and alumni of VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences contributed work that was included in the exhibition.

“Pivot Points” featured 29 works on paper and six poetry text panels. The exhibit included a full-color catalog and a DVD recording of poetry readings by each poet. Each work represented the expression of the individual artist or writer, but also served as part of a larger story about the mentor-student relationship.

SECAC is a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote art in higher education through facilitating cooperation among teachers and administrators in universities, colleges, junior colleges, professional art schools and museums. The organization represents a 12-state area of the Southeast.