The Art Department of Middle Tennessee State University will host its second biennial exhibition of works by alumni this September.

Works included are paintings, prints, clay, photography, sculpture, and graphic design imagery. Each alumnus will be represented by at least four images that will be on view in the Art Gallery at Todd Hall.

Alumni showing this year represent a range of years beginning with the 1960s and ending with a more recent graduate of 2004. They are active educators in higher education, performance artists and independent artists. Their works are seen across the country, internationally in galleries and museums, found in private collections and seen in regional and national publications.

Seventy years ago, in 1926, Hester Rogers Ray was hired to teach art education courses at Middle Tennessee State Teachers College to Elementary Education majors. However, it was not until 1960 that Howard Hull became the first graduate of the Department of Art receiving a B.S. in Art Education, with Jere Chumley following in the next year. Both studied with David LeDoux, retired Professor of Art, and the late Fred Reubens, who was chairman of the two-person department.

Since then, the department has grown to a faculty of 24, who oversee more than 200 majors in three degree areas?B.F.A. (Studio Art, including Painting, Clay, Printmaking, Graphic Design and Sculpture), B.S. (Art Education) and B.A. (Art History).

Housed in the famously unique Art Barn until 2005, the department is now located in the recently renovated Todd Hall, where it continues the work started long ago that has successfully seen hundreds of students and graduates pass through while enriching their art experiences and earning one of the degrees offered.

The Alumni 2008 exhibition is the most recent in an ongoing series of shows designed to recognize Department of Art graduates for their ongoing commitment to art-making and their passion for their discipline.

This exhibition’s artists include Diane Fox, Glenda Guion, George Juliano, Rebecca Parker, Jim Poag, Tom Sain, Patricia Tenpenny and Vicky Terry.

The exhibition opens Sept. 8 and closes Sept. 26. An opening reception will be held from 6 – 8 p.m. Sept. 8.

The exhibition is free and open to the public. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday, and the gallery is closed on all state holidays.

For more information, call (615) 898-5653.