Artists Talk With LVA: July 14 2022

Multi-disciplinary artist Colleen Toutant Merrill’s work examines the simultaneously personal and social history of textiles. Her adorned, embellished, and sometimes garish composite forms scrutinize the beauty and tension of our most interdependent relationships

She has exhibited her work here in Kentucky in  Lexington & Louisville but also in New York, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh, and at the International Textile Biennial in Haact, Belgium. Merrill has received grants from the Kentucky Federation for Women and the Great Meadows Foundation. She has been awarded fellowships for the Byrdcliffe Artist Residency in New York, and the Pentaculum Textiles Residency at the Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Tennessee. 

Merrill is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Bluegrass Community & Technical College and a part-time Instructor in Fiber & Material Studies at the University of Kentucky.

Her latest body of work, Day In & Day Out, opens at  WheelHouse Art  Saturday, July 16, 3:00 - 5:00 pm. The exhibition continues through September 3, 2022.

Artists Talk with LVA: April 28, 2022

This week we talk about "Seeing Sam Richards Sculpture", the new book by Frances Kratzok, and others, including Melinda Walters & John Begley. Tune in to WXOX 971.1 FM/Artxfm.com Thursdays at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Sam Richards was a prolific sculptor. His experimentation was broad, deep, and lifelong. He was knowledgeable, articulate, and down-to-earth, a man of sparing speech, and personal and artistic integrity. Richards taught at the University of Louisville for almost 19 years and making most of his sculptures in his campus studio. 

Louisville sculptor Frances Kratzok received a B.F.A. in sculpture from the Tyler School, Temple University, and an M.F.A. in sculpture from Rinehart School of Sculpture of Maryland Institute College of Art.

She has taught sculpture and art classes at several colleges in the Louisville area and exhibits regionally. She was married to sculptor Sam Richards.

Melinda Walters is currently a special education teacher in Louisville. She received her BA in Fine and Studio Arts with a concentration in Sculpture from the University of Louisville where she studied with Sam Richards. She went on to earn an MFA from the University of Albany SUNY before returning to U of L to get a Masters in Education.

John Begley is a freelance art worker (artist, curator, art services provider) He was Gallery Director, Assistant Professor of Art (Emeritus), Critical and Curatorial Studies graduate program coordinator for the Allen R. Hite Art Institute, University of Louisville 2001 – 2014 (Retired). He was also the Director, Louisville Visual Art Association 1983 - 2001

Artebella On The Radio: June 17

The (Un)Known Project is a collaborative, two-year initiative led by IDEAS xLab to tell the stories of both known and unknown Black men, women, and children that were formerly enslaved and hidden figures in Louisville, Kentucky. This week we talk with old friends William Duffy & Dave Caudill, the two sculptors working ion this project, which will be unveiled Saturday, June 19.

William Duffy was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. Always having a special talent for painting and drawing, Duffy graduated from the Louisville School of Art with a BFA in painting.

Duffy’s work can be found in numerous private, corporate, and public collections, including Phillip Morris USA, Brown-Forman Corporation, Kentucky Fried Chicken (now YUM! Brands, Inc.), Humana Inc., The Louisville Orchestra, and the J.B. Speed Art Museum.

David Caudill creates artworks for public, corporate and private collections. His larger public works are found at Louisiana’s Rip Van Winkle Gardens, East Tennessee’s Horizon Center park, the University of Kentucky’s Singletary Center for the Arts, and the University of Louisville School of Music. Corporate collections include Brown-Forman Corporation and Fire King International. Individual collectors across America have acquired his work.

He is also one of the few sculptors in the world who have created an environmental undersea sculpture. Caudill’s artwork was placed on the seabed near Nassau, The Bahamas.

The {Un) Known Project’s first public art installation "On the Banks of Freedom" gets unveiled June 19 as part of Juneteenth: Past, Present, Future.

Artebella On The Radio: February 11

Rebecca Norton & Jake Heustis are showing new work at Moremen Gallery beginning February 19 and they came together to talk about it. Hear the interview this Thursday at 10:00 am on WXOX 97.1 FM, or stream it on Artxfm.com.

Rebecca Norton received her BFA from the University of Louisville in 2004 and her MFA from Art Center College of Design in 2010. Norton's studio practice encompasses 2D and 3D design, collaboration, digital modeling, and animation. Her work examines theories of synthesis and connectivity as they relate to the activity of reconstructing reality in vision and thought. She takes a special interest in color theory and problems of the mathematical intelligibility of natural phenomena. Norton has exhibited nationally and internationally. She has been a contributing writer for The Brooklyn Rail, Arts in Bushwick and Abstract Critical. Rebecca Norton currently lives and works in Louisville, KY.

Jacob Heustis uses painting, drawing, and installation to question and explore value and class systems, vanity and desire and the nature of art and aesthetics within the context of contemporary society. Heustis’ large-scale works consist of a minimal but expressive application of medium and materials often combined with self-referential phrases and appropriated pop-culture lexicon in the form of hand written text.

Since 2004 he has exhibited at Swanson Contemporary, the Green Building Gallery, Land of Tomorrow, Zephyr Gallery, Actor’s Theatre, Brown Theatre, Kentucky School of Art, Hite Art Institute, The Speed Art Museum, Cressman Center for Visual Arts, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, and 21C Bentonville, Durham, and Cincinnati.

Vignette: Jada Lynn Dixon

“Clothesline Spirit” by Jada Lynn Dixon, Mixed Media, 26x12in, 2019, $300

It may oversimplify to consider that so much of what adult artists search for is a rediscovery of the simple, pure artistic expression of childhood; to clear away the responsibilities of family, employment, debt and other impediments of adulthood. In her most recent Artist’s Statement Jada Lynn Dixon connects her practice to her childhood experiences with great deliberation:

“I have a longstanding fascination with the idea of  ‘Safe Spaces.’ There are many different definitions for this title, frequently personal, and can shield an individual from an emotional trigger. Other people may consider it a public space to receive help. As for myself, my grandmother and her creativity defined my version of a ‘Safe Space.’ I grew up in a very volatile environment, but fortunately had a devoted mother who tried her best to compensate. My Granny was a source of comfort. She was not an artist in the traditional sense, but crafted a series of pillow forts, clothesline tents, and shoebox dollhouses that occupied me for hours. These spaces kept me safe from anger, sadness, and uncertainty. I would watch eagerly as Granny took a simple cardboard shoebox and turned the bottom into a dollhouse with furniture created from the lid. I’d escape with it to a tent made from sheets on her clothesline, and exist safe in a created world for hours.”

“Little Sanctuary” by Jada Lynn Dixon, Mixed Media, 16x12in, 2018, $150

“Today my adult self enjoys ‘Safe Spaces’ in my artwork. I use wooden boxes, large canvases, cast resin pieces, clay, and found objects instead of shoeboxes and sheets to make meditative areas. My recent work incorporates a peaceful palette of pale blues, yellows and greens. Natural elements appear reclusively in many of my pieces, such as leaves, small branches, moss, and crystals. These reference the settings I enjoyed with my shoebox dollhouse, and it’s adornments. I work in a space created long ago, an emotional area originated by my grandmother, and perpetuated by materials and symbols that I associate with safety and happiness. It is my hope and intention that my viewers will find a moment of comfort and sanctuary in my pieces.“   

Selected Exhibitions:

2018 Safe Spaces Dual Exhibit – Art Sanctuary, Louisville, KY
2018 Lexington Art League: PRHBTN 2018 – The Loudoun House, Lexington, KY
2018 Art at the Old Capitol (Juried) Featured Gallery Artist – Corydon, IN
2018 Cosmic Revelation LAG Annual Exhibit – KORE Gallery, Louisville, KY
2017 Funny Little Things Solo Art Exhibit - Day’s Espresso, Louisville, KY 2017 Art at the Old Capitol (Juried) Featured Gallery Artist – Corydon, IN
2016 Scars Group Exhibit – Tim Faulkner Gallery, Louisville, KY
2016 Trees Are Poems Group Invitational Exhibit - Cook Studio and Gallery, Louisville, KY 

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: Currently attending Kentucky College of Art + Design (KyCAD) for a BFA in Studio Art
Instagram: @jynnart

Scroll down for more images

“Cloud Birds” by Jada Lynn Dixon, Mixed Media, 26x12in, 2019, $350

“Luna Memory” by Jada Lynn Dixon, Mixed Media, 12x8in, 2018, $125

“Back Yard Spirit” by Jada Lynn Dixon, Mixed Media, 30x16in, 2019, $300

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.

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