Comings & Goings

Comings & Goings: VAI’s New Home, Micol Hebron, and SUU Faculty

The Visual Art Institute (VAI) is finally able to confirm that they have found a new home. They will be occupying the former Exotica Imports, located at 2901 S. Highland Drive. Earlier this year VAI, which also housed GARFO, was forced to move out of their home of 29 years at the Garfield School when Westminster College took over ownership of the building (talk has circulated that the college will turn the property into a new fine arts facility, but for the present it looks like it is being mothballed). The VAI’s new home is nearby, a few blocks south of I-80. Their fall schedule begins this Monday, though the first two classes will be hled at the Sugar House Park  Olympus Pavilion while they remodel their new space. For a list of their fall classes go to www.visualartinstitute.org.

Southern Utah University announced this week that they will be adding two new full-time positions to their Department of Art and Design. Jessica Gerlach, an MFA graduate of the Visual Communications department at the University of Arizona, joins the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design. Gerlach’s work is fueled by her commitment to use art and design to inform and educate the public about critical social, political, and environmental issues. Her most recent project in conjunction with the Rillito River Project’s Bat Night 2010 was extensive interdisciplinary research and collaboration, and the resulting public environmental installation informed an audience of about 5,000 people about key plant and animal species that have been lost with the deterioration of the riparian habitat in one of Tucson’s rivers. G. Roland Spears comes to the department as a professor of Drawing/Entertainment Design after 25 years of experience in illustration and design with numerous publications. He is a member of the New York Society of Illustrators, and received his MFA in Illustration from The University of Hartford. The current focus of his art is centered upon digital Illustration, landscape and figurative oil painting.

Micol HebronFinally, we’ve received confirmation that Micol Hebron is leaving the community. Hebron has been promoted to Chief Curator at the Salt Lake Art Center and, in that capacity, will be working to stage exhibitions at the Art Center that she has organized through the 2013-14 season.  Unfortunately due to family medical reasons, Hebron needs to move back to L.A. and so will be telecommuting for the time being, as well as scheduling regular return visits to Utah. The Art Center is  currently in the process of searching for a Senior Curator who can expand their curatorial efforts, and hope to make a decision in the next 30-60 days.

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