By: Roni Portzen
MTN Reporter
MTSU is honoring a gifted and prolific sculpture professor with a new retrospective exhibit of his works and an opportunity to help students take up his tools.
The exhibit is called James Gibson: A Life in Sculpture- A Retrospective will open Monday, March 14, 2022. The exhibit is on display in the university’s Todd art gallery, located in room 224 of Todd Hall.
James Gibson taught in MTSU's College of Liberal Arts from 1970 to 1999 ad was names a professor emeritus in 2000. Gibson sculpted more than 500 pieces in his lifetime.
One of Gibson's most distinctive pieces, "Rite of Passage," is a piece that almost every Blue Raider has passed by on their way to class located at Old Main Circle and Normal Way. (Photo to the right).
Gibson dedicated this piece in November 1986 to celebrate MTSU's 75th anniversary. (Photo to the left).
Gibson’s work is part of private and public collections both local and national, including the Frist Center for Visual Arts, Vanderbilt University, Nissan and Bridgestone, as well as in a place of honor in MTSU’s public collection.
On Saturday, March 19 at 2 p.m., MTSU’s department of art and design will mark the exhibit with a free public opening reception in the gallery. The opening will be followed by a special discussion with the Gibson family on the late artist's works and achievements at 3 pm. The exhibit will run through Saturday April 2 during the gallery's regular hours which are: weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m.
Half of the sale proceeds from each piece of Gibson’s artwork that is purchased during the exhibit and reception will go towards a scholarship to benefit MTSU students. His family established the gift, which is open to a junior or senior seeking a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art with an emphasis on sculpture, shortly after his death.
For more information about purchasing Gibson’s artwork, the Gibson exhibition and scholarship, or the Department of Art and Design at MTSU, contact Snyder at eric.snyder@mtsu.edu or 615-898-5532, or visit www.mtsu.edu/art.