NEWS

Tech artist to exhibit in Paris

Feb 14, 2011 | General News, Liberal Arts

Katherine Amman Vellard, a professor of art at Louisiana Tech, will have an exhibition of her work at Centre D’Arts Plastiques Albert Chanot in Clamart, a suburb of Paris, France. The opening reception is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, March 26, and the 26 works in the exhibit are from her ongoing series of oil pastels titled “Other Worlds.” “We in the School of Art are indeed very proud of Professor Vellard’s accomplishment,” said Jonathan Donehoo, director of the School of Art. “She is an excellent example of the outstanding faculty we have in our program, and it is gratifying to see her receive this honor.” Vellard has exhibited in 80 national and international exhibitions and has had 11 solo shows, including “The Holy Mysteries” exhibition at St. John the Divine in New York City. In 2003, she was awarded the Artist Fellowship Award by the Louisiana Division of the Arts. In her artist statement, Vellard said experiences from her childhood come through in her work. “A Louisiana native, I grew up surrounded by bayous, cotton fields and Indian mounds,” she said. “I loved exploring all of these venues and spent a lot of time looking for arrowheads, digging in the turn rows, and examining wild life on the bayou. Rather isolated, entertainment came from my own invention. I remember a game my sister and I called cool spot. The turn row at the edge of the cotton field was dusty and extremely hot. We would drag the shovel to the turn row and dig deeply ‘til we hit cool, damp earth. Each of us would stand in the hot dust until one of us would break down and jump into the cool spot alleviating our burning feet, thus losing the game. “In the process of digging, we would find an assortment of treasures, broken bottles, old marbles, pottery shards and an occasional arrowhead. These bits and pieces, rough fragments of objects, hinted at the history of their former life and created a mysterious narrative. These experiences still hold a certain fascination for me and continue to surface in my work through elements, symbols and storytelling.” The exhibition will continue through April 24. For more information on Vellard’s work, visit her website, kvellard.googlepages.com, or the museum’s site, centrealbertchanot.com.