It’s hip, it’s current, it’s an art department – Lipscomb’s art department to be exact.
According to Nashville Scene Arts Editor Laura Hutson, Lipscomb University “secretly harbors one of the hippest art programs in Nashville.”
Lipscomb professor Rocky Horton and Artist-in-Residence Seth Lykins couldn’t agree more.
The Lipscomb art department offers several opportunities for students to immerse themselves in the art world. Associate Art Professor Rocky Horton says the work produced by students and professors is very contemporary-progressive and cutting-edge.
“That atmosphere paired with this amazing [Presidential] Lectureship series, as well as the OPEN Gallery downtown, has pushed us to the forefront of programs in Nashville,” Horton said.
The Presidential Lectureship series for Art and Art History brings prominent artists, art historians, and critics to lecture and interact with the community with studio visits and exhibitions. Past lectures have included Daniel Johnston, Nick Cave and Jose Parla, to name a few.
“Lipscomb’s art department is super conceptual,” said Lykins, a junior studio art major. “It really challenges you in how you think about art. There are also a lot of opportunities for students.”
As Artist-in-Residence, Lykins is offered a cash award that allows him to spend the summer as a working artist, presenting his work at the beginning of the fall semester.
Lipscomb also offers a Visiting Artist Program, which highlights several artists throughout the academic year from all over the country and brings them to Nashville to interact on an intimate level with students and the community over a period of two or three days.
Lykins curates the OPEN Art Gallery in the Arcade downtown, a gallery run entirely by students.
“Professor Rocky had the idea of renting out a gallery space downtown to let students get their name out there and have the experience of managing and dealing with artists and the gallery system,” Lykins said. “We contact the artists, specify what kind of work we would like them to show, we host them when they come down and we install and de-install the work.”
This month’s gallery exhibit featured Chicago-based visual artist Nicole Wilson’s Survey of the Bottom of the United States, a collection of dirt and resin molds of rocks from Death Valley, a desert valley in Eastern California.
“She’s attempting to describe the negative space in the valley and the positive space around,” Lykins said.
The gallery features new exhibits on the first Saturday of each month at the First Saturday Art Crawl, an event downtown that highlights galleries and museums across Nashville. Horton oversees the gallery and makes sure the students keep it running.
“We’re a very rigorous program,” Horton said. “We expect a lot from our students, and we challenge our students consistently. We want and require that our students are very well-read and well-rounded.”
The high standard placed on students by professors has a high pay-off rate.
“Our students are incredibly capable and incredibly savvy,” Horton said. “Within the last five years, we’ve had students get accepted to some of the top ten graduate schools in America such as School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Parsons The New School for Design and New York University School of Visual Arts.
“I am constantly surprised and impressed by these students.”