VISUAL ART & MUSEUMS

Watkins College of Art, Design & Film presents Photography Thesis Exhibitions 2011, featuring works by Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography degree candidates Lauren Elizabeth Heine, Camille Perreault and Patrick Sheehan, through December 16 in the Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. Gallery on campus.


Lauren Elizabeth Heine, of Harvest, Alabama, presents an exhibition of digital color portraits entitled Uniform Identity. Growing up within a military household, Heine had to balance life as a ''civilian'' and a ''brat,” and discovered a great disconnect between the two: “There’s a shadowy veil cast over those within the service branches, creating what has been described as a secret world.” The project Uniform Identity finds a common ground between the life that is considered “civilian” and that which is “military” by allowing viewers to visually connect through the memories and cherished treasures of those who serve and have served in the United States Armed Forces.


Camille Perreault, of Nashville, offers State of Change, a documentary series of black and white portraits and landscapes that investigates changes that have taken place in Iowa as modern farming has progressed from small farms to large-scale, agribusiness endeavors. An Iowa native whose grandparents were farmers, Perreault has witnessed firsthand the shrinking number of family farms, as technology has made it easier to cultivate huge areas of land: “This series interested me because my home state happens to be the state that produces more corn than any other, and corn is such a central part of our country's economy. The process of traveling back and forth to my home state to create these images became almost as important as the photographs themselves. Meeting farmers and hearing their personal stories, as well as spending hours driving through rural farmland and watching the corn grow, have given me a richer understanding of the place I was born.”

Patrick Sheehan displays large format, color photographs in his show New Hallucinations. A Nashville native, Sheehan is interested in how daily routines create automatic responses to the passing world. New Hallucinations presents an assessment of the natural world, extracting ordinarily overlooked objects and spaces and re-contextualizing them within the confines of the photographer's frame.


About the program
The Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Photography at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film offers an exploration of personal image making and an examination of contemporary and historical photographic practices and traditions. The department incorporates a rigorous studio-based program that reinforces an outstanding foundation in visual arts and general education, preparing them to begin careers as professional artists, continue their education through the pursuit of an MFA degree, or apply their skills to positions within professional or commercial fields such as arts organizations, galleries and museums, or studios. Through critique, demonstration and discussion, students are engaged in a program that concentrates on technical competence, critical thinking and creative techniques.

About Watkins
Watkins College of Art, Design & Film is a four-year baccalaureate college offering a studio-based curriculum for its Bachelor of Fine Arts degree programs in Film, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Interior Design and Photography, its Bachelor of Arts in Art, and its Certificate in Film. The faculty and staff are committed to a learning-centered environment that challenges students to engage the mind, train the eye and cultivate talent and skill into an active realization of creative potential.