First Art Exhibits of the Radford University 2014-15 Museum Season

Multimedia artist Alison Gordon Weld and M.F.A. painting alumnus Bill Fisher ’90 begin the Radford University Art Museum 2014-15 season. Their exhibits open the week of Sept. 8 in the RU Art Museum at the Covington Center and Gallery 205, respectively.

“Alison Weld was chosen as our feature artist because much of her art has a feminist aspect to it and that ties in with our curriculum. Dr. Roann Barris is teaching two courses with the theme of contemporary women in art,” said Steve Arbury, director of the RU Art Museum.

Weld’s work is personal in nature and often biographical. The title of her exhibit is “The Visual Diaries of Alison Gordon Weld” and features paintings and sculpture in mixed media.

In her artist statement, she discusses how she became an artist, “As a girl in West Irondequoit High School, l was considering Priesthood because I believed in the transmission of integrity, but was of the wrong gender.”

Later she considered getting a doctorate in phonetics because she says she sought the foundation of meaning, but was told by her high school guidance counselor the degree did not exist. That is when she decided to study art and went into the Bachelor of Fine Arts program in painting at the State University of New York at Alfred.

She received her Master of Fine Art in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1980.

Her show is on exhibit from Sept. 11-Oct. 26 at the RU Art Museum at the Covington Center. Her reception is Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. Weld will speak about her art during this time.

In addition during the week of Sept. 9, Fisher’s current paintings are the focus of the biannual alumni exhibit “Beyond the Tartan” in Gallery 205 at Porterfield Hall. While a student at RU, his work was often figurative. Now it is more abstract.

“Childhood memory, appropriated diagrams, and reflections of the visual realities of urban decay are the basis for Bill Fisher's imagery,” Fisher said in his artist statement.

About the selection of featuring this alumnus, Arbury explains, “Bill Fisher was chosen for this exhibit because he is a talented M.F.A. graduate of RU who continues to create and exhibit art.”

Fisher is a recipient of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 2010-11 Fellowship Award and his paintings are found in prominent public and private collections throughout North America.

“Beyond the Tartan: Bill Fisher” is on exhibit Sept. 8-Oct. 17 in Gallery 205. The opening reception is Sept. 8 at 5 p.m.

The RU Art Museum at the Covington Center is weekdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and weekends noon to 4 p.m. Gallery 205 is open on weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., but is closed noon-1 p.m.

For more information about the RU Art Museum programs, visit www.radford.edu/rumuseum or call 540-831-5754.