Artists Invited to Enter First Annual University of Mobile Juried Art Exhibition

The University of Mobile is calling for entries of original artwork from artists in seven southern states for the first annual University of Mobile Juried Art Exhibition. The competition is open to visual artists working in any media, and only original artwork is accepted.

Artists must either be born in or currently live in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee or Texas.

Deadline for entries is Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008. An online entry form and additional information is on the University of Mobile website at www.umobile.edu/art or contact Phillip Counselman, assistant professor of art, at (251) 442-2283 or (800) WIN-RAMS, extension 2283. The entry fee is $25 for the first work and $5 for each additional entry. All works must be original and completed during 2006 or 2007.

Prizes include a $1,500 award for first place, $500 for second place, $300 for the Southern Humor Award, and $100 for honorable mention. The show will be open to the public May 3-30 at Thomas T. Martin Hall on the University of Mobile campus.

Charles M. "Mack" Clark, University of Mobile professor emeritus and recipient of a 2007 Greater Mobile Area Arts Award from the Mobile Arts Council, will serve as juror for the show. The retired professor of art and dean holds a bachelor of fine arts from Auburn University and a master of fine arts from University of Mississippi. He has worked in a variety of media including porcelain and watercolors, and his works are in private collections worldwide.

For 14 years, Clark served as director of the university's "Art With a Southern Drawl" juried competition, the predecessor to the first annual UM Juried Art Exhibition. The competition was postponed in 2006 following Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast region where many of the artists lived who traditionally entered the show. Now, Counselman plans to rebuild the university's annual art exhibition under a new name, but with the same dedication to showcasing talented regional artists.

"We expect this will be an exciting show with its own unique flavor," Counselman said.

A graduate of the University of Mobile and the University of South Alabama with a master's of fine art from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Counselman previously served at Tuskegee University as an instructor of art and as a visiting lecturer at Winston-Salem State University. Following Clark's retirement, Counselman joined the University of Mobile faculty in fall 2007 and directs the fine arts program at the private Christian university. Claire Yearwood, adjunct instructor of art at UM, will serve as assistant director of the art exhibition.

Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled at the University of Mobile in the College of Arts and Sciences, Center for Performing Arts, Center for Adult Programs, and schools of business, Christian studies, education and nursing. For more information about the University of Mobile, visit the website at www.umobile.edu or contact Enrollment Services at (251) 442-2273 or adminfo@umobile.edu.