NEWS RELEASE

Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2007

Contact: Contact: Mike Emery
713.743.8186 (office)
713.415.6551 (pager)
pemery@uh.edu

STUDENT ARTISTS SHOWCASED DURING MASTERS THESIS EXHIBITION AT UH

Soon, at art schools around the country, graduates will celebrate their achievements with exhibitions at out-the-way “emerging artist” spaces that few people have heard of, and even fewer will visit.

Graduates of the University of Houston’s School of Art are more fortunate – and so are Houston audiences. Student artists completing their Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in art at UH are about to showcase their work in a museum that has presented art by artists such as Willem de Kooning, Chuck Close and Donald Lipski.

The 2007 School of Art Masters Thesis Exhibition will feature graduate art students’ sculptures, paintings, photography, and work in digital media. It is open to the public April 14 – 28 at Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. A free public reception will celebrate the exhibition’s opening at 7 p.m. Friday, April 13.

UH, the only university in the region to offer an MFA degree, also is one of the few institutions where art students’ works are not only shown in a professional museum, but reproduced in a catalogue published by Blaffer Gallery.

“UH graduate students win because they get exposure in a beautiful, prestigious museum,” said John Reed, director of the School of Art. “Houston audiences win because they get a chance to see fresh, provocative work by the next generation of artists.”

Participating artists include MFA students Laura Bennett, Julie de Vries, Shannon Duncan, Mayuko Gray, Jan Arthur Harrell, LOLI, Brian Moss, Brian Piana, Joe Winston and Jeff Yerger.

Throughout the exhibition’s run, UH students will lead Brown Bag Gallery Tours. These informal, daytime events provide an opportunity for the public to explore themes and ideas as presented through museum exhibitions. Brown Bag Gallery Tours for this exhibition are at noon April 18, 19, 25 and 26. For more details on the tours or the exhibition, visit http://www.hfac.uh.edu/blaffer/.

WHAT: 2007 School of Art Masters Thesis Exhibition
WHEN: April 14 – April 28
10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Tuesday – Saturday
Opening reception 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, April 13
WHERE: Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston
120 Fine Arts Building
University of Houston - Entrance 16
Houston, TX 77204
WHO: The University of Houston’s School of Art and Blaffer Gallery

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.