VCU Anderson Gallery presents painting & poetry exhibit

By Malorie Burkett

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Anderson Gallery will present “Pivot Points,” a traveling exhibition that examines the links between three generations of painters and poets and celebrates the ties of mentorship between teachers and students.

The exhibition, organized by two faculty members in VCU’s Painting and Printmaking Department, has been traveling since October 2003, with stops in five national venues and in Lima, Peru.

“Pivot Points” was organized by Reni Gower, associate professor in VCU’s Painting and Printmaking Department, and Sally Bowring, adjunct faculty member in VCU’s Painting and Printmaking Department and public art coordinator for the city of Richmond. The exhibition also includes alumni from VCU’s Painting and Printmaking Department as well as faculty and alumni from VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences. The exhibit at VCU's Anderson Gallery, 907½ W. Franklin St., will remain on view until March 6.

“Pivot Points” features 29 works on paper and six poetry text panels. A full-color catalog accompanies the exhibition as well as a DVD recording of poetry readings by each poet. Organizers say each work in the exhibit is the expression of an individual artist or writer, but also is part of an ongoing story of teachers teaching students and students teaching teachers.

Artists include Victor Kord, retired professor in painting at Cornell University, and Richard Lazzaro, professor emeritus of art at the University of Wisconsin, who mentored Bowring and Gower; and Valerie Bogdan and Beth Weisgerber, graduates of VCU’s Painting and Printmaking Department, who were mentored by Bowring and Gower.

In addition, “Pivot Points” brings together six poets, including the late Larry Levis, former VCU English professor, and Dave Smith, Eliott Coleman professor in poetry at Johns Hopkins University, who mentored Gregory Donovan, VCU associate professor in English and Elizabeth Seydel Morgan, a retired literature and creative writing instructor of Richmond’s St. Catherine’s School. The other poets include Joshua Poteat, graduate of VCU and Laura-Gray Street, assistant professor in English at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, who were mentored by Donovan and Morgan.

In conjunction with the exhibition, a symposium is planned for Feb. 27 through March 1 that will feature poetry readings, book/catalog signings, visiting artist critiques and a panel discussion featuring the artists and poets in the exhibition. Times and other details are to be announced.

“The symposium will continue to highlight the theme of mentorship so eloquently presented through the works in the exhibition,” said Gower. “By fostering new dialogue with the next generation of our students, it will facilitate the ongoing interplay and importance of mentorship within our scholarly community.”

The exhibition and symposium have been funded in part by the VCU School of the Arts, VCU College of the Humanities and Sciences, VCU Anderson Gallery, The VCUArts League, VCU Painting and Printmaking Department, VCU English Department, Virginia Commission for the Arts and the New Virginia Review, Inc.

The following venues have sponsored the exhibition: VCU Anderson Gallery; Boyden Gallery at St. Mary's College, St. Mary’s City, Md.; Galeria ICPNA Miraflores in Lima, Peru; Gelb Gallery at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.; Contemporary [Art] Galleries + Museum at the Fine & Performing Arts Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C.; and Gallery II and Space Gallery at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich.

For more information on “Pivot Points,” visit http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/artweb/gallery/index.asp.