Vis Arts Opens Doors

	Yield steel paint and wood by Derek O' Brien
	Rings steel & wrought iron, approx. 42" tall by Michael Murrell
	Thief bronze, approx. 6.5 feet tall by Justin Bishop

Recent campus visitors have noticed sculptures mushrooming across campus. From the cautionary animal shapes posted like road signs to the black metal wheels "rolling" on the lawn in front of the Wilson Building, a plethora of outdoor sculptures have been installed this month to welcome two very special groups to campus.

The "Open Sky Exhibit" is on display as part of the KSU Department of Visual Arts' participation in the College Art Association's 93rd Annual Conference, being held in Atlanta in this week. Composed of more than 13,000 artists, educators and collectors as well as 2,000 museums and university art departments, the College Art Association is concerned about and committed to the practice of art and to teaching, and research in the visual arts and humanities. The conference is held in Atlanta about once a decade, but this is the first year Kennesaw State will be highlighted.

"Although we are nationally accredited, this is really the first occasion for the department to have national visibility," said Linda Hightower, chair of the KSU Department of Visual Arts. "The members of the association will have the opportunity to see that we have become a presence to contend with."

One of the areas that Hightower intends to showcase is undergraduate student participation in professional art exhibitions. "It is incredibly unusual for a college to have its undergraduate students showing their work as much as ours do," she said. KSU arts majors have exhibited their work in several galleries in Atlanta including the Swan Coach House Gallery, the Spruill Center for the Arts, The B Complex, the annual Art of Dining Charity Auction and elsewhere.

This fact is also likely to impress the second group visiting the Department of Visual Arts this month, the Georgia High School Art Honor Society, which will hold its annual conference at KSU this year. More than 120 of the state's best high school artists will spend a weekend at KSU. They will tour the campus, participate in art workshops and interact with KSU art majors. They also will present their portfolios to college recruiters.

"We want these students to see that Kennesaw State offers access to Atlanta without the concerns that plague urban campuses," Hightower said. "We have a sound academic program and we can offer them a gateway to the galleries in Atlanta that no other undergraduate program can match."