Lone Star College-Kingwood’s art faculty will have an array of new pieces on display at the 2016 Fall Faculty Show.
The faculty’s work will be on display from Sept. 14-Oct. 12 in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) Fine Art Gallery. This year’s event will showcase recent works by professors Gerard Baldwin, Aaron Bielish, Cory Cryer and Mari Omori. Art pieces will be judged in ceramics, painting, sculpture or drawing categories. The public is invited to this free art exhibit.
“This show is a great opportunity for the students and community to see the high caliber of Lone Star College art instructors and the variety of studio art courses offered at the college,” said Kris Larson, gallery director.
Baldwin will show nine mixed media pieces that include cartoon characters and motifs, some new and some familiar. He has spent 50 years making drawings come alive. Baldwin comes from an artistic clan that dates back to “Felix the Cat” in 1926 and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1937. His work has been showcased in films including “Mr. Magoo”, “Rocky & Bullwinkle”, “George of the Jungle”, “Yogi Bear”, “The Grinch”, “Aladdin”, “The Flintstones”, and “The Smurfs”.
Bielish’s new work, “Merge”, uses an obsolete mobile phone, consumer grade applications, and computer and social media. As co-creator of “The X-Wave and Experimental Festival”, the artist works in a diverse range of media that includes photography, drawing, digital and computer media, ceramics and sound.
“’Merge’ is an exploration of iterations, of collaborations between humans and technology, and an exploration of the ‘what if’,” Bielish said.
Bielish currently serves as adjunct instructor of art appreciation and digital art at LSC-Kingwood. He hold a Master of Music degree from Rice University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Houston.
Cryer, head of the ceramics instruction at LSC-Kingwood, is an artist whose work is shown nationally. She uses clay because of its ability to assume many forms, and as a result, plays many roles.
“As I work, the clay is warm, malleable and responsive. After firing, the piece is cold, hard and fixed,” Cryer said. “The contradictory nature of this medium, from raw to finished state, continues to fascinate, excite and inspire me.”
Omori will showcase her work “pilgrimage: 2016”, a photo of essay about her recent trip to Honshu, Japan. According to Omori, visiting Japan this past May was far from tourism. It was a search for the meaning of her home and the homes of others after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. She will talk about her work at the Faculty Show Reception on Sept. 29 at 12 p.m. in the PAC Fine Arts Gallery.
“So much of the landscape that defined ‘home’ for me had dramatically changed,” Omori said. “From the photographs I have taken and the audio video I have recorded, I came to an awareness, that the worst fear among the Japanese population is the fear of the unknown, that which is invisible.”
Because of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, the main island moved eight feet to the east and the Earth’s axis is estimated to have shifted between four and 10 inches. The destruction and experience were captured in black and white photographs.
LSC-Kingwood’s Fine Arts Gallery is located in PAC room 114. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m-3 p.m., and closed on weekends. For more information on the 2016 Faculty Art Show, future exhibitions or student and adult workshops, contact Kris Larson at 281-318-4321 or email
For general information about Lone Star College-Kingwood, call 281.312.1600 or visit http://lonestar.edu/kingwood.htm
Known for its leadership, innovation and steadfast commitment to student success, Lone Star College provides high-quality academic transfer and workforce education/career training programs to more than 83,000 credit students each semester, and a total enrollment of 95,000 students. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to promote student success and economic prosperity. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., is the chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area, which consists of six colleges, eight centers, two university centers, Lone Star Corporate College and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.
