On exhibit now and well into 2024 in the Arts Program Gallery at University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) are two noteworthy shows that intertwine the works and influences of many.
Eternal Paper, on exhibit through May 19, 2024, brings together 20 artists from collaborative studios in Maryland. The show was assembled by guest curator Helen C. Frederick, a master printmaker and educator and the founder of Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.
Art and Influence: Works by Joseph Sheppard and His Prolific Protégés, on exhibit through November 10, 2024, joins the works of Sheppard, an internationally acclaimed Maryland artist who taught painting and drawing at the Maryland Institute College of Art for 15 years, with those of many students whose careers he shaped.
Viewed together, these exhibits embody the fruits of collaboration, whether through the peer-to-peer studio environment of Eternal Paper or the teacher/student relationship that is represented in Art and Influence.
“Both exhibits celebrate the learning journey and introduce unique perspectives and worldviews to new and broader audiences,” said Gregory W. Fowler, president, University of Maryland Global Campus.
The works on exhibit in Eternal Paper arose from the collaborative studio ethos, where artistic collaboration and dialogue are encouraged, and resulted in, according to Frederick, “a particular cross-fertilization.”
On the abstract end, Frederick’s own “Healing Stones” is a study in symbols, creating, in her words, “a personal language of markings, symbols of decay and regeneration.” Meanwhile, in “Universe of Paper-Fusion,” Anne Wilsboell offers an ethereal large-format piece that basks in the light of the gallery, creating a luminous glow around its edges.
Preston Sampson, a classically trained artist who has worked in the mediums of painting and printmaking, uses the technique of pulp painting to offer representational portraits. “Long Way Home,” for example, merges papermaking with painting to capture the moment of discovery of a girl peering through leaves.
Linking all the exceptional works in the show is an overarching theme of transformation. “The artists alter what is being observed in a collaborative experience in a papermaking studio,” said Frederick. “The fact that there is a change from liquid to solid implies the presence of natural energies that are inherent in the process itself.”
Artists represented in Eternal Paper include Maria Barbosa, Elsabé Johnson Dixon, Nicole Donnelly, Cheryl Edwards, Susan Firestone, Helen C. Frederick, Claudia “Aziza” Gibson-Hunter, Alexis Granwell, Ellen Hill, Ken Polinskie, Tongji Philip Qian, Randi Reiss-McCormack, Tara Sabharwal, Soledad Salamé, Preston Sampson, Gretchen Schermerhorn, Joyce J. Scott, Buzz Spector, Mary Ting and Anne Vilsboell.
Exceptional technique unites all the works in Art and Influence: Works by Joseph Sheppard and His Prolific Protégé, perhaps owing to Shepherd’s formal training and teaching. He studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) with Jacque Maroger, former technical director of the Louvre, from 1948 to 1952, and later taught painting, anatomy and life drawing at the school from 1960 to 1975. The pieces in the show range from traditional portraiture to classical sculpture to more contemporary approaches.
“The show represents evolutions of the form and technique that Sheppard helped shape through his teaching, mentoring and friendship,” said Eric Key, director of the Arts Program at UMGC. “It is a testament to Sheppard’s steadfast commitment to his art and his students.”
Shepherd’s bold “West 4th Street Station” anchors the show with its diverse cast of characters jostling for position as they ascend and descend the dark New York City subway stairs.
Nina Akamu’s “Leonardo’s Horse Head” is a study in the classical technique of the Renaissance and baroque artists that Shepherd mastered. Akamu lived in Italy, where she studied with Sheppard, whom she later married. In Florence, she dedicated herself to sculpture while studying masterworks of drawings, paintings and sculpture in museums.
“Number Eight” by Michael J. Molnar, an artist based in Pennsylvania who received his formal art education at MICA, where he met Sheppard, also represents the discipline of the old masters’ techniques, albeit with a contemporary “pop-art” flair. It employs the trompe l’oeil style to create the illusion of three-dimensional space in which a bold, colorful number eight inside what looks like a target is anchored by a faded Campbell’s soup can, reminiscent of Andy Warhol.
In addition to Shepherd, Akamu and Molnar, artists in the Art and Influence exhibit include Nathaniel K. Gibbs, Daniel Graves, Malcom S. Harlow, Jr., Douglas Hoffman, James Earl Reid, Robert Seyffert, James W. Voshell, Larry Dodd Wheeler, Evan Wilson and David Zuccarini.
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