East Wing Gallery to feature prints by Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart

Release Date: 11/20/2008. Expired: 1/10/2009

The art of printmaking was recently highlighted when The Renaissance Center displayed works from the Southern Graphics Council in two of its galleries this past spring. Now an artist and educator specializing in the medium of printmaking as a combined traditional and modern art form will be featured in a solo exhibit.

Works by Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart will be exhibited in the center’s East Wing Gallery Dec. 3-Jan. 10. A reception will be 6-7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12.

A recent transplant to the Nashville area, Stoneking-Stewart comes with a wealth of knowledge, talent and a background that fits nicely into the educational goals of The Renaissance Center. As a Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and a Master of Fine Arts graduate of Clemson University, she eventually landed in Talbott, Tenn., and began teaching at Carson-Newman College and Walters State Community College. An instructor of Art History, Art Appreciation and Printmaking, she is now an instructor of Printmaking and Drawing at Belmont University.

“A background such as Jennifer’s is not exactly rare in the world of art education. Instructors often move around until they find a place where they can settle and begin to make artwork but also teach at a full-time level to support their needs and be productive in their efforts,” said Amanda Dillingham, curator at The Renaissance Center. “What is rare about her background, though, is her dedication to the craft of printmaking and her experiments in other media. This is evident in her prints, as they move fluidly throughout the piece from one process to the next seeming to become a history of printmaking contained in a single image.”

Printmaking was one of the very first replication technologies and is now poised, as it integrates digital media and expands its conceptual borders, to occupy a pivotal position in contemporary art and culture.

“Her ability to transcend the simple process of an almost archaic process such as printmaking and imbue it with new energy is a delight to find in each image,” said Dillingham. “What one realizes is that it’s not just her ability to speak within the medium that gives the work value, but also her ability to pull from the outside world. Images begin to reference mapping, biology, cityscapes and even still life that speak to the beginnings of referential art.”

While each image or grouping has its own unique set of ideas, what binds them all is the strength to which each is produced. Stoneking-Stewart’s technical expertise comes through in each image and it becomes clear why her path into education is a natural fit for this artist.

“It is a true opportunity to see an artist who has gained such a mastery over her technique so quickly. One can only imagine that her instruction in printmaking is equally as impressive,” according to Dillingham. “Important, though, is the tradition that this falls within. As Renaissance printmakers once took apprentices to pass down their craft, here it is done within the university. As The Renaissance Center continues its goals to educate within the fine arts, it is a pleasure to find an artist that works within that tradition.”

For more information on The Renaissance Center’s exhibit of works by Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart, call (615) 740-5600 or visit www.rcenter.org. Galleries at The Renaissance Center are open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and admission and receptions are always free.

The Renaissance Center is a fine arts education and performing arts center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at exit 172.

Visit the Visual Arts Gallery page for more about the gallery.

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