Art E-newsletter April 2007

As noted earlier, our faculty continue to combine teaching with active scholarship. Take a look.

Abbey Hendrickson work

Alisia Grace Chase, assistant professor of art history and visual culture, received her PhD from the University of Minnesota in the spring of 2002 and began teaching at Brockport the following fall. Since her arrival, the number of art history minors has grown substantially.

Alisia's research focuses on American cinema and extra-cinematic culture, including star studies and fashion as well as 20th and 21st century art - particularly performance and artists who use their own body as their media. Dr. Chase has book chapters in the following anthologies: The Great American Makeover: Television, History and Nation edited by Dana Heller; Virgin Territory edited by Tamar Jeffers McDonalds and the forthcoming Difference Reframed: Considering the Legacy of Feminist Art History edited by Alexandra Kokoli.

In the space between these passions and her children, Alisia attempts to find the time to do jivamukti yoga, snowboard, play the cello and roller-boogie with her husband.

Sara Di Donato was born in Naples, Italy and moved to the United States as a child.
She received a BFA in painting from the University of Iowa, and an MFA from the University at Albany. She has shown her work widely in both regional and national exhibitions, and is represented in many private collections. Her work was recently included in the northeastern issue of New American Paintings. Sara has given lectures as a visiting artist at the University of South Florida, Central Washington University, Siena College and the Sayles School for the Arts. Her painting influences and interests range from Renaissance painting to comic book illustration and vintage advertising.

image of Debra's work

Debra Fisher completed her graduate work at The Ohio State University where she received an MFA in printmaking. She taught at colleges in Ohio, North Carolina and Colorado before making her profesional home at SUNY Brockport.

Debra's work is a combination of traditional and non-traditional approaches to the magical process of printmaking. Having shown nationally and internationally, her most recent exhibition was an invitational print show organized by Brian H. Jones for the Louisville Art Association. The show, entitled Passion and Process: Impressions from America's Master Printmakers, included work from 40 printmakers. She has had one-person exhibitions at a number of venues including the Butler Institute of American Art and the University of Louisiana-Shreveport.

Jennifer Hecker photo

Jennifer Hecker is a professor in the Department of Art, where she has taught since 1989. She teaches all levels of sculpture as well as general education art courses. She is a recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Jennifer received her MFA in sculpture from the University of Minnesota and her BFA in sculpture with honors from the University of Illinois. She has exhibited her sculptures throughout the Midwest and eastern US.

Jennifer recently completed a commissioned sculpture for the Village of Brockport and a site-specific installation for Christ Church in Pittsford, NY. In her art as well as in her teaching, Jennifer covers a variety of materials and techniques, including working with plaster and wood, metal fabrication, bronze casting, paper casting and assemblages with non-traditional materials.

Kitty Hubbard photo

Assistant Professor Kitty Hubbard works in a variety of media including large-scale digital images, installation, artist books and, most recently, podcasting. She currently serves as Visual Resource Center coordinator in the art department and teaches digital courses in the Department of Art and interdisciplinary art issues classes in Delta College.

Kitty received her MFA at the Visual Studies Workshop/SUNY Brockport. Her BA in Photography is from Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. Her work has been included in more than 60 exhibits including venues such as the George Eastman House in Rochester and the Basiskulturfabrik Galerie in Germany. Kitty's work is included in two major photography textbooks, Photography by Barbara London, 7th edition and Photographic Possibilities by Robert Hirsch, 2nd edition.

Tim Massey drawing

Timothy Massey received his BFA with concentrations in printmaking and drawing at the University of Tennessee. His MFA degree with a concentration in printmaking is from The Ohio State University.

An active exhibitor for the past 20 years, Tim's work most recently was included in the National Printmaking Invitational Exhibition at the Beverly Arts Center in Chicago. He was recently invited to participate in a national printmaking portfolio exchange entitled Which Way to Amarillo: Mapping A Personal Journey.

Tim is the director of the Tower Fine Arts Gallery. This year he has curated two exhibitions, SCALE: A National Drawing Invitational and Not Right: Artists Altering Natural Schemes. He teaches all levels of drawing and gallery management at SUNY Brockport.

Lori Mills photo

Lori Mills, associate professor of art, has been a member of the art faculty since 1999. Her MFA in ceramics is from RIT, School for American Crafts in Rochester, NY. Her BA is from Augustan College, Rock Island, IL. Lori teaches all levels of hand building and wheel throwing.
Her work has appeared in regional, national and international venues including Ceramics: The Vehicle of Culture-World Biennale in Korea. Recent national exhibitions include "FUNK"-tion National and Handcrafted: A Juried Exhibition of Ceramics, Fiber, Glass, Metal and Wood, North Carolina, CraftForms, Pennsylvania, and Feats of Clay XIX, California. Lori's work has appeared in a number of publications on contemporary ceramics including The Contemporary Potter-A Collection of the Best Original Work in Earthenware, Porcelain and Stoneware (Fairbanks, Fina, Gustin), Wheel-Thrown Ceramics I (Davis) and 500 Teapots (Triplett).

Photo Jim Morris work

Jim Morris has exhibited throughout the US for more than 20 years. He received his MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is an alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His work has recently been featured in exhibitions at the Burchfield-Penny Art Center in Buffalo and the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids. He is the recipient of several fellowships that include a summer Fulbright to Malaysia and Singapore, a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship and an NEA/Mid Atlantic Artist's Fellowship. This year Jim was one of 27 artists invited by the Triangle Art Association in Brooklyn to participate in a two-week residency. Jim held teaching positions at Radford University in Virginia and SUNY College at Buffalo prior to coming to SUNY Brockport. He is on sabbatical for the 2007-08 academic year.

Phyllis Kloda ceramic

Department chair Phyllis Kloda completed her graduate work in ceramics at Ohio University and taught at the University of Wyoming and Ohio Wesleyan University before coming to SUNY Brockport in September 2006.

Her pieces are shown nationally and internationally and appear in 21st Century Ceramics by Bill Hunt, Ceramics: A Potter's Handbook and in Contemporary Low-Fire Ceramics and Ceramic Review. Recent exhibitions include Contemporary Maiolica at the Arkansas Center for Contemporary Arts, Keramik Galerie Am Ratswell, Landerkries Bitterfeld, Germany; and Seduced By Colour, George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, Canada. She received the Merit Award from Feats of Clay XIII, Extraordinary Merit in Research Award from the University of Wyoming, and Purchase Award from the Topeka Competition 22.