On Oct. 10, Alabama Visual Arts Network opened its first invitational exhibit at the Samford Gallery. The event ends on Nov. 9, holds the theme of “Made in Alabama.”
Lauren Evans, Associate Professor of Art Gallery Director at Samford is the secretary of the Network. Sharing that the organization is in a phase of rebuilding its brand, the idea to hold an art show came about. Evans offered to hold the exhibition in the gallery, where art from each board member and invitees of each member are held.
Some of the invitees include professors from other universities.
“The main goal [of Alabama Visual Arts Networks] is to provide opportunities for artists to connect to one another, and to network,” said Evans.
The gallery holds a mixture of two-dimensional, three-dimensional, videography and ceramic art.
Since Samford only has one gallery, multiple events are hosted in the gallery such as student exhibitions and outside artists.
The gallery holds around three professional and three student exhibits on average per year, with one to two per semester.
Every spring, there is a jury student exhibition where a guest artist selects a student work. This spring 2025 will be the artist Laura Wennstrom, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her show will take place during January and February of 2025, and she will be the juror for the student show that comes afterwards.
The next show hosted in the gallery will be a pop-up show performed by a group of students. While at the end of the semester a Senior Exhibition will take place. This semester will end with a Graphic Design Senior exhibition.
To submit a piece to the gallery, there is an application form on the Samford School of Arts website. The application is year-round, and available to anybody to respond and submit art.
The exhibition previously held was of an artist from Tennessee, Jocelyn Matthews, who was invited by Animate, Samford’s center for worship and art, and the Art department.
Animate holds a camp every summer for teens and young adults interested in worship leadership. They collaborated with the gallery for the first time this year during the summer to bring a guest artist.
Samford’s Gallery has won grants from various organizations such as Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Alabama Humanities Alliance, who have brought scholars to interact with the humanities exhibition. It has also held exhibitions of the late Thornton Dial, who was an artist raised in Bessemer.
The departmental awards are also held in the gallery, usually around the closing section of the students show, along with the juror selecting the prize winners.
Staff Writer
