Public Opening February 15th, 2013 from 5 – 8pm.

 

In collaboration with Aegis, the association of graduate students from the Hite Art Institute at the University of Louisville, KMAC will be hosting the 3rd Biennial Symposium on Art History and Visual Culture titled Taking the “S” out of Craft. This event will be held on Saturday, February 23rd from 9:30am – 5:30pm.

 

Aegis encourages the exchange of new ideas and cultivates academic freedom by offering activities, including this biennial symposium where graduate students from around the nation can participate in submitting papers based on a theme. This year six students have been chosen to present:

 

Traversing Boundaries: Cultural Philanthropy and the Craft of Mary Seton Watts
Katie Tuft, PhD Student, University of Washington

 

Traditional and Modern Bilum in Papua New Guinea: A Shift from Bodily Extension to Cultural Bridge
Justina Yee, MA Student, Indiana University (Bloomington)

 

Why Clay: Material as Experience
Elizabeth Di Donna, MFA Student, Florida State University

 

Wallace Mitchell and the Challenge of Craft
Chad Alligood, PhD Student, Art History, Graduate Center of the City University of New York

 

Haptic Rainbow: Installing Craft in the Work of Gabriel Dawe
Zoë Samels, MA Student, Art History, Williams College, Williamstown, MA

 

More is Less: The Domestic Sublime in Liza Lou’s Kitchen
Sara Christensen Blair, PhD Candidate, Institute of Doctoral Studies in Visual Arts

 

Lydia Matthews, Professor of Visual Culture and Director of the Curatorial Design Research Lab at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, will present the keynote address: Craft Matters: Exchanging Knowledge in the Wake of Globalization.

 

A reception and opening of the exhibit Taking the ‘s’ Out of Craft will follow the lecture at 6:00 pm. The exhibition will be on view in the First Floor Gallery from February 15th through March 24, 2013.

 

Schedule of Events:
9:30am – Continental Breakfast
10am – 12:30 – Paper Presentations
12:30 – 2pm – Lunch
2pm – 4 – Paper Presentations
4:30pm – Keynote Address (Lydia Matthews)
6 – 8pm – Reception

 

In conjunction with the Symposium, an exhibit curated by the University of Louisville graduate students from the Hite Art Institute will be on view in the first floor gallery opening February 15th (5-8pm) and run through March 24th. The exhibit will examine and challenge the conventional and often arbitrary distinctions between fine art and craft. Local and national contemporary artist who employ media or techniques traditionally associated with “craft” will be featured. Artists include: Hui Chi Lee (Lexington, KY), Bette Levy (Louisville, KY), Jeff Ruemeli (Louisville, KY) and Boris Zakic (Georgetown, KY).