UNC Asheville is hosting Drawing Discourse, the university’s seventh annual international exhibition of contemporary drawing. The juror of the exhibition, Edgar Jerins, selected 43 drawings from over 900 works, submitted by 307 artists from seven different countries.
It’s drawn attention from around the world, thanks to the work of faculty in making in a reality.
“The reason why I started it was because drawing and painting were a concentration group together; I was hired as a drawing professor and I was trying to separate drawing from the mentality that drawing is a preparatory experience not a final experience,” said Tamie Beldue, UNC Asheville associate professor of art and founder of the exhibition. “So it was really important for me to demonstrate that drawing can be a stand alone medium not something you do before sculpting or before painting.”
One of Beldue’s favorite aspects of the event is how much of an impact it makes on the students, the artists, the juror, the university and the community members. At the opening reception, she said the gallery was half full of community members who may not have otherwise come to campus.
Those visiting the exhibition experience a range of works. A different juror makes the selection each year, adding to the wide discourse on drawing.
“So when I say there were 908 artists that submitted, he didn’t pick 43 because there were only 43,” Beldue said. “I would say there were 600 stellar images that didn’t get accepted but it was just because he had to cull it down somehow, and he did it based on his personal preference. So if you can link a juror to your method of working, you have a better chance of getting in.”
UNC Asheville alumna Lori Brook Johnson had her graphite drawing, Winter Coat: Unworn and Inside for a Moment, accepted into the exhibition.
“This is an amazing art program here, I really feel like it was life changing for me to come to this school,” Johnson said. “The drawing program here is pretty amazing; it’s tough but it’s really good.”
Being accepted into the event gave her more drive to work on her art and to motivate others through art education. Johnson teaches through a program in the Asheville Art Museum called Literacy through Art, where art classes are taught in public schools that no longer have art programs.
“I am in Burke County and I do 13 classes a week and I teach fourth graders,” Johnson said, “and they are awesome because they haven’t had art and they are super excited, and it’s just a really good age, too. They are eager to learn.”
See Johnson’s work in Drawing Discourse, on view from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays, through Feb.12 in the S. Tucker Cooke Gallery in Owen Hall on campus. For more information, visit the Department of Art and Art History website.
Story by Amber Abunassar ’16; photo by Dana Harward ’17.