DOLLY: P/N 35 National Juried Art Exhibition
Juror: Logan Lockner
Editor, Burnaway Magazine
February 18 to March 13, 2020
Reception with performance by ETSU Music Chorale: February 26, Wednesday, 5 pm
Panel on Dolly Parton's Impact on Appalachian Culture:
March 3, Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Slocumb Galleries
Best of Show: Kymberly Day, SC
Honorable Mention:
Kevin Ford, Kevin Gardner, Marta Lee, Randall Lilly, William Major, Katie Sheffield
The Department of Art & Design at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee invites artists to submit work that visualizes the ideas, complexities, and cultural significance of iconic Appalachian musician Dolly Parton for Dolly: P/N 35 National Juried Art Exhibition, to be held in Slocumb Galleries from February 18th-March 13th, 2020.
This year's juror, Logan Lockner, is an Atlanta-based writer and the editor of Burnaway, an online magazine of contemporary art and criticism from the American South. His writing has also appeared in national and international publications including Art Papers, Pelican, Bomb, Photograph, and The Rib, and he recently edited the anthology Stranger, Harder, Brighter: The 2019 Burnaway Reader. In 2018, he was a finalist for the Rabkin Prize for Arts Journalism. He has given talks and led workshops on art writing at venues including the University of Georgia's Lamar Dodd School of Art and Georgia State University's Ernest G. Welch School of Art. An East Tennessee native, he holds a BA in English literature from Emory University in Atlanta.
The 35 participating artists are: Stacy Beam (TN), Jane Broderick (TN), Kymberly Day (SC), Jen Delos Reyes (IL), Chelsea Dobert-Kehn VA), Trevor Doell (MO), Amy Evans (TN), Amber Farley (TN), Kevin Ford (CT), Kevin Gardner (KY), Mira Gerard & Justin Seng (ND), Edwel Granadozo (TN), Ashley Gregg (TN), Jodi Hays (TN), Dawn Hunter (SC), Jake Ingram (TN), Ellen Knudson (FL), Alanna Lacey (CO), Marta Lee (NY), Randall Lilly (WV), Laura Little (NC), Katie Maish (PA), William Major (TN), Gina Mamone (WV), John May (TN), Mary Nees (TN), Shawn Quilliams (TN), Claire Rau (CO), Alice Salyer (TN), Katie Sheffield (TN), Todd Simmons (FL), Mary Ruth Smith (TX), Page Turner (VA), Megan Paige Ward (TN), Anna Wehrwein (MO).
Juror Logan Lockner created the theme for this exhibition, and hopes to see works submitted in a range of media that emerge from "the ideas or associations she represents: homespun charm and Appalachian heritage but also camp and celebrity and sexuality; an embrace of Christian traditions alongside vocal and longstanding support of the LGBTQ community; the self-made singer-songwriter in Nashville, country music; gender and identity performance”. Like many of us, he sees Dolly Parton as a "unifying cultural figure… the only celebrity or artist who is equally valued and celebrated by my native community of East Tennessee (in a very homogenous, white, conservative, evangelical setting) and by his current community in Atlanta (in a very heterogeneous, multiracial, progressive, queer setting)." He also points to WNYC's podcast Dolly Parton's America which “explores her legacy, influence, and her special ability to occupy middle ground in America's culture wars.”