Lay of the Land

Each year, the Van Every/Smith Galleries present an exhibition that highlights the work of one or more studio art faculty. This year, the Galleries will collaborate with Katie St. Clair, Assistant Professor of Painting, on the presentation of her solo exhibition, Lay of the Land. The exhibition will feature abstract, mixed media paintings inspired by the artist’s foraging for mushrooms and other experiences observing and immersing herself in the natural environment, both locally and internationally. In addition to a series of paintings and works on paper, St. Clair will present sculptural objects – pigments and natural and man-made debris composed into a frozen form. Over the duration of a few days at different times throughout the exhibition, the sculptures will “create” new paintings, as they melt onto a prepared surface positioned below.

St. Clair earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Art Academy of Cincinnati and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan–Stamps School of Art and Design. After graduation, she was a Teaching Fellow at Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughn, Ireland and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Albion Colllege. Currently, St. Clair holds the position of Assistant Professor of Art at Davidson College. Her work has been exhibited at the Burren College of Art, Ireland; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, MI; Zhou B. Art Center, Chicago, IL; Charles Danforth Gallery, University of Maine, Augusta; Dalton Gallery, Rock Hill, SC; Greenhill Center for NC Arts, Greensboro, NC; and Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY. She has received numerous awards and honors including Best in Show, Annual Alumni Exhibition, University of Michigan; and the 2019 Young Affiliates of the Mint Choice Award, for her work in Coined in the South, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC. St. Clair has been awarded residencies at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Amherst, VA; Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT; Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC; and the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Ontonagon, MI.

The exhibition brochure features an essay by Linda Weintraub – curator, educator, artist, and author of several popular books about contemporary art. She has earned her reputation by making the outposts of vanguard art accessible to broad audiences. She focuses on the bold and original strategies being developed by eco artists to tackle current environmental crises. Her own studio practice provides one of many examples. Weintraub’s books exploring contemporary art and ecology include WHAT’s NEXT? Eco Materialism & Contemporary Art (2018), To LIFE! Eco Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet (2012), as well as a series of textlets that include EcoCentric Topics: Pioneering Themes for Eco-Art; Cycle-Logical Art: Recycling Matters for Eco-Art; and EnvironMentalities: Twenty-two Approaches to Eco-Art. 

This exhibition would not have been possible without the support of the Herb Jackson and Laura Grosch Gallery Endowment and Davidson College Friends of the Arts.