Please check back regularly as we update information on all four art exhibitions to be held on the campus of MTSU in the summer of 2025.
TAA ART EXHIBITION OPENING, ARTIST TALK, AND RECEPTION
Monday • July 15 • 4:30 - 6:30 PM
Leu Art Gallery (Lila D. Bunch Library)
My campaign begins with the simplicity of a single solitary line. When multiplied by the power of pattern, the foundations of a cohesive yet complicated war map have been laid out, revealing the beginning of a thought-provoking battle through the jungles of visual tonality. The treacherous terrain of interwoven fibers can only be navigated with a thorough understanding of species and gouge. An uncompromising coordination of tactical maneuvers transforms each individual line until the landscape has just enough information to tell the crucial tale of value. This value ranges from the darkest trenches of your nightmares, to the blinding brightness of victory on an overtaken hill.
This unwinnable war consists of infinite battles; paradoxical battles that can never be won. Instead, these battles are meant to instill an unrelenting resolve. This war has but one enemy - the limitation of the mind. This ever-changing enemy has one goal - incarceration of creativity. This is my art, my life, my struggle.
Ordinary art can hold you prisoner. Think beyond it and you’ll be set free.
Artist Biography
Alex Carmona is a master relief printmaker specializing in woodcuts, reduction woodcuts, and wood carvings and engravings.
His works are revered for their detail, craftsmanship, and scale. In his short career as an artist, he has gained tremendous notoriety by creating woodcuts and marketing material for some of the biggest names in the music and automotive industry.
Carmona is an ambassador for Speedball, one of the largest and most respected names in the world of art and printmaking. He is also an ambassador for Tormek, a Sweden-based company with a leading brand of machines used for sharpening edge tools. Carmona’s handmade prints and wood carvings are displayed all over the world. His automotive artwork was among the first to ever be publicly displayed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the 2019 Global Auto Salon.
Carmona served his country for ten years before he made the transition to full-time artist. His brand continued to grow within the automotive industry by traveling the world and selling his woodcuts and original prints. His growing influence and distinctive style has attracted the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association, Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, the Miles Davis estate, and Tormek, among many other large-scale corporations. Carmona is a Colorado native, and now resides in Peoria, Illinois, where he continues to create and expand his printmaking abilities.
Professional Exhibition
July 15–August 9, 2024
Leu Art Gallery (Lila D. Bunch Library)
Opening Reception
Monday • July 15, 2024 • 4:30 - 6:30 PM
Leu Art Gallery (Lila D. Bunch Library)
Professional Exhibition
Artist Talk
Monday • July 15, 2024 • 5:15 PM
Leu Art Gallery (Lila D. Bunch Library)
Artist Talk with Alex Carmona
Monday • July 15 • 5:15 PM
Leu Art Gallery
Lines of Pressure by Alex Carmona is cosponsored by the Watkins College of Art at Belmont University and the Tennessee Arts Academy with additional funding made possible by generous gifts from Rena Ellzy, Solie Fott, and the TAA Foundation.
July 8 - August 2, 2024
Leu Center for the Visual Arts
Gallery 121
The Tennessee Arts Academy is pleased to offer a student art exhibit as part of its summer enrichment experience. Tennessee’s Best of the Best Student Art Exhibition is a collection of the best pieces in various media by student artists from the three grand divisions of the state. The students whose work will be featured have won college scholarships for their achievements and have had their work exhibited in museums throughout the state of Tennessee. Click here to view the 2024 TAA Student and Teacher Art Exhibition Catalogue. Click here to view all archived art exhibition materials under the green banner labeled TAA Student and Teacher Art Exhibition Catalogues & Videos.
July 8 – August 2, 2024
Leu Center for the Visual Arts
Lobby Gallery
The Tennessee Arts Academy is very proud to exhibit the work of practicing artists-teachers alongside the exemplary work created by their students. Connections: Tennessee Art Education Association Member Exhibition is a juried show featuring the work of kindergarten through higher education art educators from across Tennessee. Click here to view the 2024 TAA Student and Teacher Art Exhibition Catalogue. Click here to view all archived art exhibition materials under the green banner labeled TAA Student and Teacher Art Exhibition Catalogues & Videos.
July 15-18
Belmont University
Daily Exhibition Locations Throughout Campus
The STARS exhibition showcases the talent and hard work of K-5 grade level art students and teachers from across Tennessee. Nineteen pieces of art were selected by a panel of judges based on the alignment of the artwork to visual art standards, technique, personal expression, and composition. This year's inaugural exhibition was held at the Tennessee State Museum. The Tennessee Arts Academy STARS exhibition features the first-place winners at each grade level as well as the Best of Show winner. Click here to view the 2024 TAA Student and Teacher Art Exhibition Catalogue. Click here to view all archived art exhibition materials under the green banner labeled TAA Student and Teacher Art Exhibition Catalogues & Videos.
Tennessee’s Best of the Best Student Art Exhibition is co-sponsored by the Tennessee Arts Academy and the Tennessee Arts Education Association and is presented in partnership with the Watkins College of Art at Belmont University.
Connections: Tennessee Art Education Association Member Exhibition is co-sponsored by the Tennessee Art Education Association and the Tennessee Arts Academy and is presented in partnership with the Watkins College of Art at Belmont University.
The STARS exhibition at the Tennessee Arts Academy is sponsored and organized by the Tennessee Art Education Association and co-sponsored by the Tennessee Arts Academy.
Special thanks to Katie Mitchell, Watkins College of Art at Belmont University Director of Galleries and Programming , and to Jim Dodson, the founder and creator of the Best of the Best and Connections exhibitions.
Each year on Tuesday during the Academy week, TAA hosts an afternoon community art crawl showcasing the TAA art exhibitions. The crawl also includes an invitation to visit the Belmont Mansion and participate in tours of the two museums on the Belmont campus. This year’s event occurs on July 16, 2024 from 5 – 7 PM. Details on all aspects of the art crawl follow below.
Tuesday • July 16 • 5:00–7:00 PM
Participants are invited to visit the following exhibits and museums during the TAA Art Crawl:
Belmont Mansion
As part of the TAA Art Crawl, participants are invited on Tuesday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. for a tour of the historic Belmont Mansion. The event features Susan Ramsay playing hammered dulcimer. Light refreshments will be served.
Lila D. Bunch Library, First Floor
Participants are invited to view the Frederick Hart Studio Museum and the Gallery of Iconic Guitars (GIG) Museum as part of the TAA Art Crawl. Both are located on the first floor of the Lila D. Bunch Library.
Leu Art Gallery (Lila D. Bunch Library)
Leu Center for the Visual Arts
Gallery 121
Leu Center for the Visual Arts
Lobby Gallery
Belmont University
Daily Exhibition Locations Throughout Campus
Tuesday • July 16, 2024 • 6:00 PM
Leu Center for the Visual Arts
Tennessee’s Best of the Best Student Art Exhibition and Connections: Tennessee Art Education Association Member Exhibition are co-sponsored by the Tennessee Art Education Association.
Special thanks to Watkins College of Art at Belmont University Director of Galleries and Programming, Katie Mitchell; and, Watkins College of Art at Belmont University Dean, James Pierce.
