SOUTHERN MISS MUSEUM OF ART HOSTS CERAMICS,
LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS EXHIBITION

HATTIESBURG -- The University of Southern Mississippi Museum of Art will open an exhibition Jan. 8 featuring ceramics and a display of landscape paintings. "Journeys: Two Women: Barbara-Ann Carver-Hunt and Claudia Ka Cartee" will feature more than 50 stoneware and raku sculptures and ritual vessels created during the last year and a half.

On Jan. 15, an opening reception from 4 to 6 p.m. will feature "J.B. Harter: Landscapes," a small retrospective of the well-known New Orleans artist's landscape paintings. This exhibition has been developed and supported by the John Burton Harter Charitable Fund, also based in New Orleans. Both exhibitions will be on display through Jan. 31. As an added bonus, a collection of pottery by the late Roger Brinegar will be on display in the showcases located at the entrance to the museum. This collection encompasses his work from the 1980s until his death in 1993.

Brinegar, a 24-year employee at Southern Miss, also has left valuable legacy for students of ceramics at Southern Miss through an endowed scholarship established in his name.

Cartee has been a professional studio potter since 1973. After receiving an undergraduate degree in fine arts from California State University at Fullerton, she pursued graduate studies at The University of Southern Mississippi. She has maintained an active studio in Seminary since 1975.

"The title of our exhibition, 'Journeys: Two Women,' is very appropriate to my new works," Cartee said. "This exhibit culminates in a manifestation of form and color. The technique, of which has evolved through me during the past year and a half, challenges all of the experience and skill developed throughout my career."

Carver-Hunt received undergraduate degrees from the University of Montreal in Quebec, and California State University in Hayward, Calif. She received an M.F.A. in sculpture and drawing from Miami University in Ohio. Since 1989, she has taught at Southern Miss as both full-time and adjunct faculty.

"This body of work for me has been an 'imramma,' the Celtic word for journey," Carver-Hunt said. "It has been a going forth in order to return with the story, the song, the image, the knowledge-that carries the meaning from me to you and you to me and both of us, ferried across the waters. To tell the story of the journey, to uncover any true name, is to begin to discover who we are."

John Burton Harter was born in Jackson, but grew up in Louisville, Ky., where he received an undergraduate degree in art. Harter also studied at the University of Pennsylvania, Hebrew University, and Arizona State University. In addition to actively working as a painter for many years, Harter served in the curatorial department of the Louisiana State Museum, acting as director of collections from 1986 until his retirement in 1991. Harter continued to paint both figurative and landscape compositions until his untimely death on March 15, 2002.

The University of Southern Mississippi Museum of Art is located in the Fine Arts Building at the southwest corner of campus. The hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m-5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission to the museum and reception is free and open to the public. School and community groups are welcome to attend. Please call (601) 266-5200 for more information.

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