COLUMN: Mercer student art exhibit at The MAC a must-see during First Friday

There are only two days left to get to the McEachern Art Center downtown to see an exhibit by Mercer University’s 12 graduating art/graphic design majors.

It’s worth a look. It’s worth the effort to get there to not only enjoy scores of fine individual pieces but to experience the remarkable range of creative labors each student has been involved in.

It is a bit mind-blowing and it is excellent.

The spring term is wrapping up and finals underway so it was difficult managing a talk with students but I did wrangle comments from a few. Plus I was at the gallery when Gabrielle “Ellie” Miller and her family from Washington D.C., were there having a reception for family, friends and apparently a number of Mercer volleyball athletes. Because Miller plays, she had to be away during the show’s April 22 opening reception.

Catch the exhibit tonight and tomorrow from 4-8 p.m. If you go tonight, you can be part of the closing reception which makes it part of downtown’s May First Friday.

Miller’s preferred medium is oil paints and she said she takes much inspiration from Greek mythology. It’s obvious. Artist notes at her display explain she’s inspired by the subject of good and evil in Greek literature as it relates to modern times and the trauma that too often results. She says in part, “I too have found myself in this crossfire and found art at a time when I was at a loss for words to describe what I was feeling and experiencing. That is why I started painting and I believe that is why I am so very drawn to depicting stories from Greek mythology. I had no success in explaining my trauma with words ...”

While Miller’s work and a few others are done in traditional materials, others are far from them partially because there are so many graphic artists/designers in the show.

Unfortunately, I can’t detail all participants but I will a few more.

Graphic design student Ali Dupree created a 31-plus page magazine as her project featuring information and pictures of fellow artists. She hopes to work as a layout/editorial designer for a major magazine. Her “Stairway Wit” magazine tells us so. Stairway Wit is the name of the graduate show but I won’t go into why. Go find out.

If you’re lucky, there may be copies of her magazine still available for $10.

Amanda Herrold is an artist working in traditional materials but abstractly versus Miller’s realism/portraitures.

In a text, she told me she hoped it didn’t sound too “cheesy,” but, “Being an artist is my means of making sense of the world and my experiences within it. I find beauty in life: in color, sound, light, touch – all the experiences I want to highlight and want others to enjoy. Artists get to take part in creating something good and genuine.”

She pointed out, “… ‘art’ is a verb — you do it. It is an action. So in a way, being an artist is an intentional, active thing, but also allows time for reflection: you see and take in the world, you think, you do, you see what you’ve done, you look at it more then try to understand what you’ve made. Rinse and repeat.”

Herrold is recipient of Macon’s across-universities William P. Simmons Art Scholarship awarded to recognize and develop the artistic skills and talents of Georgians.

Faith Reagin is another art graduate who works in large format, as do Miller and Herrold, but she uses a complex means to combine paint, dyes, writing and transferred photographic images onto bedsheets. I hope I haven’t given too much away because first seeing her work online, I wasn’t half aware of the depth of it as when I was standing in front of it. It was striking.

The photos and writings are personal snapshots and bits from her diary but sometimes obscured. She calls her works self-portraits but not in the typical sense.

“I’m after a certain vulnerability with each piece,” she said, also in a text. “I’m letting viewers in on my life but only as far as they’re willing to look. Almost every person asks me what the words say – but it’s a secret. People want to know how I did it and are surprised by how much detail is in each piece up-close.”

She said her style developed through much experimenting. “It’s all I do in the studio. I love to jump into a new medium and see where it takes me.”

She said being surrounded by such encouraging faculty helped her grow as an artist and a big takeaway from her Mercer experience is the importance of community.

After graduation, she will continue her art and hopes to work in a museum/gallery setting.

If you do miss Reagin’s work at the show, catch it in November at stARTup studios on Riverside.

Another “unusual” piece in the exhibit that’s not an unusual item at all is a children’s book by graphic design student, illustrator and writer Savannah Duringer titled “A New Day.”

As “Opa” to a 4-year-old granddaughter and having read and re-read countless children’s books of late, I can say my only disappointment with her work is that a publisher hasn’t already grabbed it and made copies available. It’s delightful, informative and I want one.

Add to my regard for it the fact I buy as many Native American themed children’s books as I can and this is one. Duringer says she likes to entertain, engage, teach and represent under-represented cultures.

There are so many worthy works in the exhibit I can only again encourage a look-see. There are adventurous, street-art themed works on found “canvases” – Avery McGee, I’m looking at you – and great concepts carried through to artistic completion – Landon Miller, at you.

And such bold statements as per McKenna Johnson.

Look and make your own determinations on the work of Olivia Cleveland, Sam Nelson, Kennedy Fravel and Ivy Allen. Please.

“These graduating seniors represent the best art students Mercer has to offer and many either have jobs lined up or are going on to graduate school,” said Craig Coleman, art professor and chair of the department. “It’s a great show on par with schools with much larger programs. Ben Dunn, director at The MAC, has done an excellent job organizing the space and showing off their work. I think the quality of each piece is a testimony to the quality of the faculty and their abilities to teach and let artists flourish.”

Dunn said the students and their work have a special meaning to him because they were entering as freshmen when the McEachern opened and he came to Mercer as its director.

“Their work is stunning but I do have that further attachment to them,” he said. “They’ve worked in artist spaces here, some have worked in the gallery, and they’ve all grown into exceptional creators.”

Herrold had mentioned a highlight of her time at Mercer was working in community with other student artists at The MAC.

My takeaway is the show is more than a collection of pretty and engaging artworks. I hope it’s clear there’s a depth of thought and perception as well as execution coming from each artist to and through their work.

The McEachern is at 332 2nd St. and open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admittance to the public is free. More on the McEachern is at www.macmacon.com.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.