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Tech’s Appalachian Center for Craft, Bryan Fine Arts Building to feature students’ senior thesis projects
Tennessee Tech University's Appalachian Center for Craft in Smithville and Bryan Fine
Arts Building on its main campus in Cookeville are set to feature various student
exhibits over the coming weeks.
On Nov. 20 at 6 p.m., the Bryan Fine Arts Building will host a reception to mark the
opening of Tech senior fine arts student Marymac Webb’s show, “Back Where I Came From:
An Intimate Look at Tennessee’s Treasures.” Hors d’oeurvres will be served.
Webb, who also shares updates about her artwork on Instagram using the handle @m.macstudio,
says her paintings of culture, history and landmarks from across Tennessee “delve
into what it means to be a Tennessean from the perspective of someone who never felt
like a true southerner,” adding that she hopes the hidden maps in her paintings will
lead audiences “on a journey of recollection to a few of our rich Tennessee treasures.”
Webb’s paintings will remain on display in the building’s lobby until Nov. 30.
Paintings by Tech senior Marymac Webb.
Beginning Nov. 22, the Appalachian Center for Craft’s Lake View Gallery will showcase
Tech senior Laura Lester’s thesis project, “Once.” The installation features ceramics,
weaving and woodwork and includes a life-size display of a childhood bedroom merged
with dream imagery and both realistic and surrealistic elements.
Lester says the project draws inspiration from her travels, dreams and love of folklore.
The exhibit will continue through Dec. 5.
Also beginning Nov. 22, the Craft Center will feature a senior thesis exhibition titled
“Comp-eat” from Tech woodworking student Brooks Burr in its Joe L. Evans Gallery.
The exhibit features a versatile, handmade ping pong table that can be reconfigured
into a dining room table when the netting is removed. The exhibition will open on
Nov. 22 and run until Dec. 5. It is located at 1560 Craft Center Dr. in Smithville,
TN in the Joe L. Evans Gallery. Visitors are encouraged to interact with the exhibition
during a reception on Dec. 2 from noon to 3 p.m.
The School of Art, Craft & Design promises the exhibition will “inspire viewers to
think outside the box and appreciate the beauty of functional design.” The exhibition
will run until Dec. 5.
An original work by Tech senior Brooks Burr.
Meanwhile, the Craft Center’s Hilltop Gallery will host a senior thesis exhibition
featuring knives made by Tech senior Gordon Clark, who studied in the School of Art,
Craft & Designs metals program.
Clark is an independent metals artist who enjoys the creation of knives and other
items through various means, such as forging and welding. The exhibition will also
feature a reception on Dec. 2 from noon to 3 p.m.
Finally, the Bryan Fine Arts Building will host Tech senior Abby Ramaker’s thesis
exhibition of oil paintings, titled “Waking Up,” from Dec. 1-8.
According to an event announcement, “Abby’s body of work explores the transformations
we go through as people and the light we discover within and around us during those
times of change.”
The exhibition will close with an artist’s reception on Dec. 8 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30
p.m. Hors d’oeurvres will be served and more information can be found on Ramaker’s
Instagram, @ramakerabby.
All events are free and open to the public. The Bryan Fine Arts Building is located
at 1150 North Dixie Avenue in Cookeville. The Appalachian Center for Craft is located
at 1560 Craft Center Drive in Smithville.
Learn more about Tech’s School of Art, Craft & Design at https://www.tntech.edu/fine-arts/art/.
