NOCCA’s “On the Edge” Gallery Series Continues the 2012-13 Season with a Visiting Artist Exhibition

Visiting Artists’ Reception reception: January 31, 6pm – 8pm

New Orleans, LA [10 January 2013] — The Ken Kirschman Artspace and the NOCCA Institute are proud to announce the 2013 Visiting Artist Exhibition.  The exhibition will feature two- and three-dimensional artwork in a variety of media by David DuBose, Jim Leedy, David Sullivan, and Diana Werts.  The opening reception for this show will be Thursday, January 17, 6 to 8 pm, and the exhibition continues through March 1, 2013.  The Ken Kirschman Artspace is located on NOCCA’s campus at 2800 Chartres St., New Orleans, LA.  Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 am to 1 pm, and Saturday, 12 to 4 pm.  Admission is free.

-Bios-

David DuBose

David DuBose received his BFA from Texas Tech University in 1986 and his MFA from Louisiana State University in 1990.  He has had artist residencies in Ireland, Canada, Germany, and the United States.  He lived in Northern Ireland for thirteen years, where he taught printmaking at the University of Ulster in Belfast and was a visiting artist or lecturer at a number of other schools and colleges throughout Ireland.  He regularly taught printmaking courses at Belfast Print Workshop and Seacourt Print Workshop, and was the Director of Seacourt Print Workshop for seven years.  He returned to the United States in 2005 and currently teaches drawing and foundations at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Jim Leedy

Jim Leedy has shown his work in a variety of media in more than 100 major exhibitions throughout the U.S. and abroad, including solo exhibitions in New York and at 11 museums in Europe.  Leedy’s exhibitions include solo shows at the American Craft Museum in New York, the Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, the University of Kansas in Lawrence and a large installation at the International Arts Exposition in Chicago.  Widely considered the “father of the Crossroads Arts District” in downtown Kansas City, Leedy was one of only two Americans invited to participate in the largest surrealist exhibition ever assembled at the Retretti Art Center in Suomi, Finland.  Public collections include the Museum of Modern Art, the Johnson Wax Collection, the American Crafts Museum, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.  Leedy has appeared as a visiting artist, lecturer and concert musician at colleges and universities and at special events in the U.S. and abroad.  His innovative use of clay in the 1950’s and 1960’s established him as a leader in ceramic sculpture.  In 1994, he was chosen to represent the United States in museum exhibitions in Norway, in celebration of the Winter Olympics.  His awards and grants include the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, the Missouri Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.  Leedy holds a B.F.A. from R.P.I. of William and Mary, a master’s degree in art history from Michigan State University, an M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University, and he studied on the postgraduate level at Columbia University and Ohio State University.

David Sullivan

David Sullivan’s brightly colored, subtly abstract prints and animations deal with his long-standing concerns with landscapes altered by civilization.  With a BFA from Louisiana State University, and an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art under the direction of Grace Hartigan, David returned to Louisiana in the 1990’s and continues to live and work in New Orleans.  David’s recent honors include a 2nd place award in the Acadiana Center for the Art’s Southern Open 2012, and a 2012 Career Advancement Grant from the Louisiana Department of the Arts.  His work has previously shown at Lawndale in Houston, TX, the Soap Factory in Minneapolis, Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans, and the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, and has been featured in The Oxford American, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Wired.com, Artforum.com, and The Gambit.  David was an artist-in-residence at A Studio in the Woods and at Louisiana Artworks.  He is a frequent guest instructor and lecturer at local universities.

Diana Werts

Diana Werts was born in Lake Charles, LA, but has lived in Kansas since she was three months old.  She received her MA in Painting at Emporia State University.  Emporia is situated on the edge of the Kansas Flint Hills, which are home to the largest intact tall grass prairie in the country. Her artistic evolution has been an ongoing push and pull between visions of the prairie which surround her, and her academic roots in formal abstraction.  To this day, she oscillates between traditional landscape work and more abstract compositions.  Werts’ oils and pastels have been featured in regional and national shows over the last 20 years, and are marked by a spontaneous and painterly style.  Her teaching work has included artist residencies across Kansas and Missouri, private and group lessons, and regional workshops.  She recently retired from her post as the Visual Arts Department Head at Bishop Miege High School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, where she taught for 7 years.  She lives in Fairway, KS in the Kansas City metro area and enjoys plein air outings wherever her travels lead.