UCA’s Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts’ first art exhibit, “Disorder: A Hard Pill to Swallow,” is the product of the Department of Art and Design’s new residency program for alums.
Anna Wagner, who graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in ceramics, said some pieces took months from sketch to finish.
“Sometimes you have to switch over from one project to another, to another, because you don’t want to get burned out on one piece,” she said, adding she does the same with materials.
“I definitely really love my last few pieces: ‘Overstimulated,’ ‘Insomnia: What If?,’ ‘The Telephone Game.’ I’m really proud of those for sure,” she said.
The department honored the exhibition in a Feb. 23 evening reception and served refreshments to visiting students, alums and faculty. President Houston Davis also stopped by.
Wagner said having her art on display as the new building’s first art exhibit is “surreal.”
“It’s honestly difficult having to have all this attention,” she said.
Another art alum, Nick Palmer, came to support his former classmate. “I’ve always been impressed with her work,” he said.
“The artwork is incredible. The part that really got me though, was at the beginning of the exhibit. She has these note cards and asked people to share their experiences with mental disorders. … It was cool to see how many people shared their strife,” Palmer said.
Sophomore art major Julia Wrinkle went to one of Wagner’s campus presentations.
“I know little about ceramics,” she said. ‘The Telephone Game’ was her favorite part of the exhibit, a stoneware piece Wagner made with underglaze, glaze, resin and a phone cord.
President Houston Davis observes art by Anna Wagner at the exhibit's Feb. 23 reception. Wagner was the first recipient of a $6,500 grant for alumni artists.
Wagner said she looks forward to researching the history of women’s mental health at one of the many graduate schools she has applied to.
She said working with neon signs and learning printmaking would enhance the pop art themes she already sees in her work.
“The first thing that they [graduate schools] ask me is, ‘Why now? Why do you want to go to this university?’ And it’s because of this place,” Wagner said.
Wagner said UCA’s art department has been supportive.
“I was so happy to receive the residency because I just love the space. It makes me feel comfortable to keep on exploring, especially with people that are always supporting you every step of the way,” she said.
Wagner said, “I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without them. They’re family here.”
The art department’s chair, Bryan Massey, said the program was the “brainchild” of Elizabeth Smith, who is a ceramics professor and the department’s associate chair.
“She came to me years ago about an idea of having former UCA alums come back and work alongside students to give them some experience to work in the university setting,” he said.
Smith said, “It’s a $6,500 grant that helps you pay for your living and your materials. You can travel with it.
“As younger art students, sometimes, when we lose these facilities, we suddenly are like, wait a second. I don’t have a kiln. I don’t have a foundry. I don’t have access to all of this stuff, and it makes it hard sometimes to pursue your career,” she said.
The program grants graduates access to studio space for projects while giving current students more instruction; artists-in-residence must be available to students and give several presentations.
Wagner’s art is on display until March 29 on weekdays from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in UCA’s WIndgate Center.