Pachyderm Showcase

Ballet Austin's production of Hamlet was performed at the Long Center for the performing Arts in Austin Texas from February 13-15, 2009. Shakespeare's age-old chilling story of love and revenge is modernized by Stephen Mills' evocative ballet Hamlet. Set to Philip Glass' poignant music, with Armani-inspired costumes, and an innovatively futuristic set, Hamlet is a gripping balletic portrayal of suspenseful and tragic human struggles.

Watch video excerpts from the different artists involved in the production, the costume design, and clips from the show in their interactive website about the production at: http://www.balletaustin.org/pachyderms/Hamlet/index.html

The Art of Botanical Illustration is a wonderfully laid out Pachyderm presentation that explores the history and development of botanical art through the years. It was not always possible or practical to transport plants, thus it was left up to artists to document and record findings from explorers. The University of Minnesota has gone above and beyond in describing the collaboration of art and science in the facet of botanical illustration.

You can view the full presentation site here:  The Art of Botanical Illustration 

Young Artists @ Arthouse is a free Saturday morning program for students living in East or Southeast Austin. Students will meet every other Saturday for a three-month period to develop their art portfolios and learn about career opportunities in the arts. Students will work directly with a local artist. Art supplies, transportation, and lunches will be provided. Each session culminates with a student exhibition and reception in the Jones Center’s Project Gallery.

Check out the young artist's portfolios .

The 2007 Arthouse Texas Prize Exhibition features new works by finalists for the second Arthouse Texas Prize.

The five finalists selected to participate in the biennial 2007 Arthouse Texas Prize Exhibition are Dawolu Jabari Anderson, Justin Boyd, Margarita Cabrera, Bill Davenport and Katrina Moorhead, one of whom will receive the $30,000 Arthouse Texas Prize. Celebrating the broad spectrum of creative voices in Texas’ contemporary art community, these artists explore subjects like the histories of different ethnic, racial, and cultural groups within the United States or the reappropriation of traditional forms of media, though each perspective is markedly different. Selected from 136 nominations presented by a knowledgeable group of art world professionals, these finalists represent some of the most innovative and talented artists working in Texas today. The 2007 Arthouse Texas Prize recipient will be announced at Arthouse’s annual gala on November 2, 2007.

First awarded to Eileen Maxson in November 2005, the Arthouse Texas Prize is the first-ever prize in Texas created to acknowledge the accomplishments of an emerging and/or under-recognized Texas-based artist. It is one of the largest regional visual arts awards in the United States and is given to a Texas-based visual artist working in any discipline. The prize encourages the growth of the state’s artistic community by providing the means for artists to develop their work while remaining based there and by bringing prominent international art professionals to Texas. Artists living in the state for the past three years are eligible for nomination and could not have had a solo exhibition at a major museum during that time.

ELIXR is a faculty development initiative that uses Pachyderm as the authoring environment for creating video case stories of exemplary teaching practice.  ELIXR Case Stories have been developed on a number of theme areas including active learning in large lecture sections, Universal Design for Learning, and Making your First Day of Class Really First Class. The case studies involve video of both teachers and students intended to engage faculty in trying new approaches.  Hear case studies of successful teaching practice at the Elixr site: Active Learning Groups in Organic Chemistry.

Have you seen the Voodoo Man? American Folk Artist Felix “Fox” Harris acquired his nickname, the Voodoo Man, because of the mysterious totems that filled his yard and surrounded his home.   His remarkable gift for sculpture allowed Harris to transform found items into serendipitous sculptures.   Harris’ work now resides at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET) in Beaumont, Texas. Experience AMSET’s new semi-permanent gallery   Somethin' Out of Nothin': the Works of Felix "Fox" Harris .

The Grace Museum & Abilene Christian University collaborate for A Night at the Museum

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the art in The Grace Museum came to life?  As a collaborative project between the Grace Museum in Abilene, Texas and Abilene Christian University’s English Department, students spent a night at the museum to spend time with a work of art and see how it comes “alive.” Students from the Christianity and Creativity class at ACU breathe life into six art works from The Grace's Permanent Collection by spending time with an individual work of art that was then the inspiration for a work of their own.  The student’s artistic response to the work could be in any medium that could be placed on the web, including photographs, paintings, drawings, sculpture, poems, videos, sounds, music, or writings.  The art inspired more art.  According to the Professor of English at Abilene Christian University, Albert Haley, “it’s an eclectic burst of creativity, crafted especially for cyber delivery, and I am very proud of the results.”

The Gallery at University of Texas at Arlington is pleased to present a two-person exhibition of work by Margarita Cabrera and Billy Hassell. The exhibition opens Monday, January 22 and runs through Saturday, March 3, 2007.  There will be an opening reception from 6 – 8:30 pm on Friday, January 26 with both artists giving brief gallery talks beginning at 6:30 pm that evening.

Margarita Cabrera, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico and resides in El Paso, TX, has gained national recognition for soft sculptures created in her signature medium of hand-sewn vinyl and other fabrics. Desert plants, immigrants’ backpacks, bicycles, everyday appliances such as blenders and toasters and even a pyramid of “Hummers” are all painstakingly constructed and stitched together from used border guard uniforms and vinyl. Recently reviewed by Art in America magazine, Ms. Cabrera's work poignantly references the political and economic issues associated with the maquiladoras (multinational assembly plants near the U.S/Mexico border), illegal immigration and the use of migrant labor.

Well-known Ft. Worth artist, Billy Hassell’s vibrantly colored oil paintings of nature imagery set amidst swirling organic backgrounds are visually compelling and conceptually thought-provoking. His current body of work is the result of a new and evolving process for him that has culminated in a series of 4’ x 4’ mixed media on panel pieces. The paintings start out as cut out images of animals and plants adhered to panel. The collage elements are then pushed and abstracted with layers of paint to examine the fragility of the environment and its relationship to our lives. Curator Benito Huerta comments that the work has “a deceptively naïve surface appearance that belies the conceptual sophistication they possess.”

Still Life Observational Exercise
This exercise trains students to use their powers of observation to describe specific features of a setting with increasing detail and accuracy.

hush, hush: the power of a secret was an art project conceived of and created entirely by teens participating in Club Arthouse at Arthouse at the Jones Center. hush, hush was inspired by PBS's award-winning contemporary art show, Art:21. After watching the episode, the students decided to concentrate on the power of communication and the control of that power through the action of keeping secrets. Over several weeks, the students collected anonymous secrets on tape from both their peers and the general public. They then transcribed the secrets, and each student chose one secret to interpret in a piece of visual art.