Art in the Spotlight
Geri Davis
As part of our Art in the Spotlight, the center featured two watercolor paintings by Geri Davis. These works were on display during the same period as Beyond Go Figure III in recognition of Geri’s impact on the art community and her involvement in the organization of previous Beyond Go Figure exhibitions.
“That which you cannot put into words, you MUST paint!!”
– Philosophy of Geri Davis
About Geri Davis
Geri Davis (Oct. 1, 1939 – Nov. 4, 2021) was an artist, educator, and motivator to everyone around her. She inspired others through her various leadership and teaching roles and she continues to do so now in the vibrancy and the life contained in her artworks. In 1961, Geri received her bachelor’s degree in architecture and art at Auburn University, later receiving her masters of science in Counseling and Human Development, with a focus in Art Therapy, at Troy University. Throughout her life, she served on numerous boards and committees, holding positions such as a Signature Member of the Georgia Watercolor Society and the Georgia State President of the National League of American Pen Women.
Her impact continued in her roles as a founding member and board member of the Gallery on Tenth, the Bo Bartlett Center, and Columbus State University’s Friends of Art, all of which were roles that supported her community and allowed for others to be inspired and introduced to art. Her passion for the environment, specifically her love for flowers, led to the creation of a poster on the “Threatened and Endangered Wildflowers of Georgia,” which was used in Muscogee County Schools as an educational tool. Her vision and fierce passion for art and education is continued with the Geri M. Davis Art Scholarship Fund, which is awarded to aid in the continuation of a student’s art education at CSU.
Cathy and Fred Fussell
These two works were featured in the center’s “Art In The Spotlight” section of the galleries and are made by two local artists to reflect the ideas of the Competere exhibition. Cathy and Fred Fussell are Columbus natives and incredible storytellers.
Cathy Fussell lives in Columbus, Georgia. She is a fiber artist whose imagery generally falls into three major categories: regional geography, Southern literature, and American modernism.
Fred C. Fussell lives in Columbus, Georgia. He is an artist and writer whose work focused on the American South and other imaginary places.
Diamondback by Cathy Fussell (2020)
Cotton canvas, cotton batting, dye pencils, thread
“Countless times I’ve traipsed through tall grass and underbrush to reach an Indian mound, and in the course of doing that I’m always on high alert for the mound’s serpentine guardians. Thank goodness some of them give fair warning.”
Chattahoochee Nøkken by Fred Fussell (2022)
Acrylic on canvas
“In Norwegian mythology, a nøkken is a troll-like shape-shifting water spirit that sometimes lures innocent people to a watery death. A similar creature called a “tie-snake” was said by Muskogee Creeks to inhabit the roaring shoals of the Chattahoochee River. Those who venture into the turbulent whitewater rapids that flow along the Chattahoochee here in Columbus are advised to be very cautious…”
Hughston Foundation Art Gala
The Hughston Foundation Art Gala for the Biologically Inclined is perfect for students who would like to unmask the exciting world of art and science. This biological and medically inspired art contest encourages students to create artwork while integrating the principle areas of the national STEAM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics).
The Hughston Foundation Art Gala for the Biologically Inclined was created to support the national STEAM initiative. The Hughston Foundation Art Gala helps students learn by integrating these principle areas. The fields of biological and medical illustration, collectively known as scientific illustration, use artwork as visual tools of communication solely for the service of education. The production of illustrations of measured accuracy, conceptualized illustrations, and animations are created to enable communication between scientist and author, teacher and student, or physician and patient. Because they communicate subtleties and eliminate ambiguities of language, scientific illustrations are an important, often necessary, element in precise communication in scientific education.
We are happy to partner with the Hughston Clinic to show and support these works.
Hughston Foundation Art Gala 2022
Middle School
Abigail Grace Hayes (8th Grade)
Title: Self Reflection
Drawing of a human looking at their reflection in a small mirror that
shows their bones in their face.
High School
Hailey Jackson (12th Grade)
Title: Inner Beauty
I made this piece to show how I’m growing just like the flowers by realizing
how everyone is the same on the inside. I’ve learned that inner beauty is what truly
matters.
Hughston Foundation Art Gala 2021
2019 Best in Show Winners
Middle School
Alexiss Latorre (8th Grade)
Title: Chemical Reaction
A clay model of a skull.
High School
Philip Walker (12th Grade)
Title: Starts at the Bones
This is an oil painting that examines the depth of who a person is. The
bones represent the structure of the person, their basic foundation and the face represents
the emotions that build through their genetic nature and being.
2020 Best in Show Winners
Middle School
Mary Ann Kim (8th Grade)
Title: Won’t Sleep
This piece is based on the idea of sleep, or rather, the lack of it. While
I myself don’t particularly struggle with nightmares. I’ve definitely had a few nights
where I’ve stayed up until 2am looking at realistic horror Photoshop from Trevor Henderson
(artist). I decided to take some inspiration from those photos and use it in myself
portrait assignment.
High School
Jakobe Davis (11th Grade)
Title: Back Muscle Anatomy
I decided to do the human back anatomy as my piece for the gala. On the
left side of the drawing, the person is more relaxed in a standing position, but on
the right side the person is flexing, causing more muscle to show compared to the
right side. I did a pretty basic background so that it wouldn’t take away from the
piece.
2021 Best in Show Winners
Middle School
Autumn Montroy (6th Grade)
Title: MiMi and Riggs
Drawing of a pregnant body with drawing of baby heart muscles.
High School
Hailey Jackson (11th Grade)
Title: The Courageous One
I painted a piece based off of the struggle of the Coronavirus that nurses
and doctors (have been) are now facing. The flowers are to how the beauty of them
being brave enough to help others in this hard time.
Lagrange Art Museum
The Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University has dedicated space in the Woodruff Lobby to serve as a spotlight for our national and regional partner in arts. The concept for this project is to showcase some of the best artworks from our partner’s collections and to develop a synergy between these arts organizations that will lift and raise awareness about the creative community in Columbus. It’s our pleasure to continue this project with our partner LaGrange Art Museum to exhibit and showcase work from their collection.
The pieces featured on this wall, highlight the museum’s permanent collection of over thirty works on paper created at the Rolling Stone Press. One of the few hand lithography ateliers in the Southeast, the Rolling Stone Press offered local, regional, and international artists the opportunity to collaborate with master printmaker Wayne Kline. Kline persuaded over sixty different artists (many who had never made a print and were hesitant about the process) to investigate the possibilities of lithography. Together they made 125 prints over a period of twenty years. These two prints are by female artists that worked with Kline and highlight the vibrancy of contemporary visual arts in Georgia.
Mercy, Mercy, Me By Stepahnie Jackson
Lithograph
Stephanie Jackson (b. 1958), an associate professor of art at the University of Georgia, presents the African-American experience through figurative painting. In her work, she combines culture with an interest in various elements of African-American history. Her distinctive style often contains surreal techniques that speak to the unconscious and the bizarre.
Elvis Prayer Rug By Joni Mabe
Lithograph
Joni Mabe (b. 1957) is a native of Georgia; she has lived in Athens and Cornelia, Georgia. She is the creator of the Everything Elvis Museum. Her family home is in Cornelia, Georgia, the site of the Laudermilk Boarding House, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and contains both her own family memorabilia and an extensive personal collection of Elvis Presley collectibles and artifacts. She is a Master of Fine Arts recipient from the University of Georgia.
Black Art In America
The Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University has dedicated space in the Woodruff Lobby to serve as a spotlight for our national and regional partner in arts. The concept for this project is to showcase some of the best artworks from our partner’s collections and to develop a synergy between these arts organizations that will lift and raise awareness about the creative community in Columbus. It’s our pleasure to launch this project with our partner Black Art in America (BAIA) to exhibit and showcase Alfred Conteh’s Mary P painting from the Two Fronts body of work
Alfred Conteh (b. 1975)
acrylic paint and atomized steel dust on canvas
74″x 42″
Mary P (from the Two Fronts body of work)
“Alfred Conteh’s Two Fronts, works to convey the warlike atmosphere under which black men, women, and children exist. The likeness to camouflage that overlays the portraits of everyday people is not rendered accidentally. As black life is in a constant struggle to survive, Conteh recognizes the material circumstance under which black people battle economic and psychological injustice. Alfred Conteh’s portraits feature people he has encountered on the street and in whom he recognizes a uniqueness. The realistic portrayals of Conteh’s subjects delineate the circumstances of black life as more than merely theoretical, as scholarship on the condition of the people might suggest; their conditions are existential. While these are no more than portraits of everyday people, Conteh uses technique and style to suggest that there is conversation to be had underlying what the viewer can readily see. As far as portraits go, his execution is masterful, but as far as our perception goes, it is up to the viewer to viscerally experience the exchange.”
Najee and Seteria Dorsey have cultivated a passion for collecting art and objects of cultural and aesthetic value while building the international brand of Black Art In America. Black Art In America is the leading online portal and multi-faceted media company focused on African-American Art. The Dorsey collection to date consists of over 400 works in various mediums and genres by both legacy and leading contemporary artists. Lending works from the collection for public exhibition is a way of furthering Najee and Seteria’s mission as a family and company to document, preserve and promote the contributions of the African American arts community.