From now until Jan. 4, 2022, “Passengers” featuring works by Ann Porter will be on display in the Student Union Fine Arts Gallery. Coinciding with seasonal travel, this exhibition is built from a collection of portraits of people waiting in airports.
“These works ask viewers to reevaluate the casual contacts we make in public spaces and they offer up fleeting contact as worthy of contemplation,” said Fonda Portales, university art curator and collection manager. “As audience members, we will become unwitting participants and artworks ourselves as we experience the ephemeral nature of those we see only in passing.”
An exhibition opening reception will be held from 4:30–6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 30
The Fine Arts Gallery is located at 1700 University Dr. on the second floor of the Student Union Building. Admission is free to all students, staff, and community members. Parking is available for an hourly fee in metered spaces and in the Lincoln and Brady Garages.
About the artist
Ann Porter is a contemporary artist who works in a variety of materials, including painted and fired stained glass, video monitors, altered video stills, and cast polychrome sculpture. Based in Sandpoint, Idaho, Porter is Professor Emeritus at Black Hills State University. She began teaching a broad range of classes, from Art History to Sculpture to Drawing to Art and Technology, at BHSU in the fall of 2003.
Porter earned her bachelor’s from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, in 1975, and a master’s in sculpture from Washington State University in 2002. She has also taught at North Idaho College and Washington State University and was a commercial art director and illustrator. Her commercial clients include the Central Park Zoo, Yellowstone National Park, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Grand Old Opry, and the Lawrence Welk Show. She was a freelance designer in the areas of jewelry, printing, illustration, as well as screen-printing and embroidery. Porter has had a number of solo exhibits and has also been involved in many juried and invitational shows, both regionally and nationally.