Department of Art and Design Senior Show Scheduled for May 8 July 27

After years of intensive study, University of Southern Mississippi seniors in painting and drawing will celebrate their accomplishments by presenting their senior projects in the Museum of Artwith an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesday May 8.

The senior project is final requirement of all students pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the Department of Art and Design at Southern Miss.

Seniors exhibiting their work include the following:

Tristan Barlow, born in Brandon Mississippi, is a senior at Southern Miss. He is currently working toward a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing. After his first year at Southern Miss, Tristan spent nine weeks in New York City studying perceptual painting and drawing with Joe Santore and Linda Darling at the New York Studio School.

Barlow returned to Southern Miss to study painting and drawing under professors James Meade and Janet Gorzegno. The next summer, he studied for two weeks with Graham Nickson, dean of the New York Studio School, and participated in their Drawing Marathon (a rigorous ten hour a day, two-week course). He then went to Chautauqua Art Institute for a two-month residency program in New York.  In the spring of 2011, Tristan studied abroad in Cortona, Italy with New York figure painter, Ridley Howard.  

He then returned to Florence, Italy after being appointed to a Teacher's Aid position by Carole Robb, director of the Rome Art Program. This summer, Barlow will be working in Rome with Carole Robb as her teaching assistant. He has exhibited his work both locally and internationally. In 2011 he was awarded Best in Show at The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Art and Design Annual Student Show, and was awarded the Jurors Award in Painting, as well as the Award of Excellence in Drawing at the Mississippi Collegiate Show in 2012. 

Nathan Mullins was born and raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He is a senior at Southern Miss working toward his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing, under the tutelage of professors James Meade and Janet Gorzegno. Following his sophomore year at Southern Miss, he traveled to New York for a two-week summer intensive drawing marathon at the New York Studio School taught by dean Graham Nickson.

During the spring semester of his junior year, Mullins lived for three months in Cortona, Italy, through the University of Georgia's study abroad program, and studied with painter Ridley Howard. Exposure to works in museums from New York and Boston, to London, and on into Venice, Florence, and Rome has had a great impact on Mullins' painting aesthetic. He has exhibited paintings both locally and internationally.

Drawing inspiration from the Venetian masters, such as Bellini and Titian, to more modern painters, such as Josef Albers and Mark Rothko, Mullins has developed a body of work that deals with the interaction of colors, the modes created by these interactions, and the way that these modes influence the viewer's relationship with the object matter. He plans to continue his study by working towards a Master of Fine Arts degree and later becoming a professor.

James "Kyle" McCrory, from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is a senior studying visual arts with his emphasis in painting and drawing. His parents are Brian and Linda McCrory.  With his father being an art teacher in the Hattiesburg school system, McCrory was initially attracted to art at a young age, and took as many art courses as he could from elementary through high school. 

McCrory is interested in the subject of the figure in his drawings and paintings, and his work focuses on aspects of the human condition. After graduation, he intends to further his education at the Art Institute of Chicago. 

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The museum is located on the ground floor of the Fine Arts Building, Marsh Hall, 111 Southern Drive, on the Southern Miss campus. Admission to the museum and reception is free and open to the public. School and community groups are welcome. 

For more information, please contact the Department of Art & Design, 601.266.4972.

Museum Hours:

10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. • Tuesday through Friday

10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. • Saturday (until May 12)

Summer Hours:

Noon to 5:00 p.m. • Tuesday through Friday