This is the seventh annual Open Studio Weekend, featuring more than 100 artists in all visual media. Established professionals, exciting newcomers and students, alumni and faculty from Hite Art Institute will share their work in unique studio spaces.��

This year, the public may visit inside the����facility, a renovated warehouse at 1606 Rowan St. in the historic Portland neighborhood. Hite faculty and MFA students operate studios there in a range of media, including ceramics, drawing, fiber, glass, painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, book arts and design.

This year also continues a partnership with��, which makes free bike rentals available to OSW attendees from noon to 6 p.m. Nov. 2 and 3.
��
In addition, a distinguished panel of curators from around the region will select works by participating artists to showcase in the�� at Hite’s Cressman Center for Visual Arts, 100 N. Main St. All are welcome to a free opening reception during the First Friday Hop, 6-8 p.m., Nov. 1. The exhibition is on view through Dec. 14.
��
Open Studio Weekend is 12-6 p.m., Nov. 2 and 3. Tickets are $12, or $10 for students, art educators and LVA members. A ticket provides access to all participating studios and includes a 60-page publication with maps to studio locations, suggested routes, information, and images of participants’ artworks. Tickets are available on .

All proceeds from the weekend tour benefit the Mary Spencer Nay scholarship at UofL and Children’s Fine Art Classes through LVA.

Participating Hite students, alumni and faculty, with their studio numbers, include:��

Betty Alvarez Painting 14,��Britany Baker Drawing 37,��Frank Baldwin Painting 29,��Megan Bickel Painting 17,��Lindsey Bishop Jewelry 36,��Anne Borders Painting 29,��Tiffany Calvert Painting 14,��Rita Cameron Painting 39,��Tom Cannady Painting 34,��Geoff Carr Photography 20,��Don Cartwright Painting 32,��Dave Caudill Sculpture 27,��Ying Kit Chan Mixed Media 14,��Xin Chen Glass 13,��Sandra Chu Painting 27,��Andrew Cozzens Mixed Media 11,��Sabra Crockett Painting 39,��Katy Delahanty Mixed Media 12,��Linda Erzinger Sculpture 38,��Cassie Fischer Painting 36,��Elizabeth Foley Printmaking 27,��Jeanne Freibert Painting 35,��Angie Reed Garner Painting 20,��Will Garner Drawing 20,��Terri Gilmore Sculpture 41,��Johnny Gordon Glass 34,��Jen Grove Calligraphy 23,��Claudia Hammer Painting 19,��Kaitlin Hennessy Mixed Media 23,��Bryan Holden Sculpture 17,��Noah Howard Mixed Media 12,��Casey Hyland Glass 19,��Dawn Johnston Painting 33,��Joanna Jorgensen Jewelry 33,��Kyle Keeney Mixed Media 35,��Megan Kociscak Painting 40,��Marti Kuehn Painting 34,��Lisa Kurtz Ceramics 29,��Lori Larusso Painting 11,��Erica Lewis Drawing 16,��Debra Lott Painting 44,��Aaron Lubrick Painting 29,��Scott Massey Sculpture 14,��James Russell May Painting 37,��Helen Merrick Painting 45,��Melanie Miller Glass 19,��Nancy Gordon Moore Painting 31,��Deb Ogburn Mixed Media 34,��Chris Owens Mixed Media 38,��Peggy Peabody Painting 33,��Amy Pender Glass 33,��Tara Remington Mixed Media 11,��Rosalie Rosenthal Photography 11,��Catherine Rubin Painting 32,��Debbie Shannon Printmaking 32,��Danny Seim Mixed Media 12,��Rachel Singel Printmaking 15,��Stacy Staggs Painting 37,��Debby Stratford Printmaking 31,��Chuck Swanson Mixed Media 31,��Victor Sweatt Painting 12,��Rachid Tagoulla Photography 13,��Maria Tinnell Fiber 40,��Susan Tolliver Painting 44,��Mark Traughber Drawing 19,��Caroline Waite Mixed Media 31,��Xuanyi Wang Painting 17,��Katherine Watts Printmaking 15,��Cletus Wilcox Mixed Media 23 and Jingshuo Yang Painting 16.

She was recently featured in , discussing her artistic journey, which started when she discovered silhouette and paper-cutting techniques as a teenager. She stepped away from this art form when she went to college – earning a bachelor’s degree from Murray State – but came back to it when painting became a challenge.

“…��with little time and little space to paint, I started cutting paper again. I began with cards and small pieces to send to my college friends, and then they kept getting bigger, and I’ve kept on cutting paper and haven’t looked back since,” she told the publication.��

Stewart’s very first solo show was held in May, so she admits the LVA award came as a bit of a surprise.��

“I was completely floored,” Stewart told Insider Louisville. “I had no idea I’d even been nominated, so I was both excited and totally confused at the same time.”

Stewart is currently working on her MFA thesis exhibition, which is in April. .��

Grant Johnson, communications and marketing director for LVA, said the awards underscore the significant impact Hite Art Institute plays in the art community of Louisville and the strength and value of the two organizations’ longtime relationship.����

“As I have grown into a role at Louisville Visual Art and as a practicing artist in town, I see the Hite’s influence and presence interwoven throughout the city’s art community,” Johnson said. “As LVA provides exceptional education programs for young artists in primary and secondary school, we often see them continue their studies at Hite.”

The honorees were recognized in four categories:

• The 2019 Legacy Award Recipient is��, internationally-renowned sculptor whose work often addresses themes of American slavery and the ongoing struggle for Civil Rights.��Hamilton is a 1969 UofL graduate and received a��Doctor of Arts honorary degree from UofL in 2004.

• The 2019 Benefactor of the Year Award Recipient is��, a prominent collector and commissioner of art by local and international artists. His Great Meadows Foundation has funded numerous UofL educators including, recently, Hite professors Ying Kit Chan, Mary Carothers and Rachel Singel.��

• The 2019 Visual Art Educator Award Recipient is��, longtime Hite Professor of Art. Grubola also served as chair of the Department of Fine Arts and director of the Hite Art Institute for 16 years, overseeing many changes including��the addition of a program in glass along with the construction of the Cressman Center for Visual Arts – the university’s first, permanent, non-medical facility in downtown Louisville.��

• The 2019 Emerging Artist Award Recipient is��, MFA Candidate at Hite.��

The awards draw energy from the past, present and future and strengthen bonds between successive generations of artists, educators and appreciative audiences, Johnson said.

“Recognizing educators and patrons alongside artists, the Louisville Visual Art Honors embrace the entire ecosystem of visual culture, every part of which enhances the prominence, quality and purposes of art in our visually-vibrant city,” Johnson said.

Honors will be bestowed at a����11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday, Feb. 1 at the��Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, 1701 West Muhammad Ali Boulevard.

This is the sixth annual Open Studio Weekend, featuring more than 100 artists in all visual media. Established professionals, exciting newcomers and students and faculty from the the Hite Art Institute will share their work in unique studio spaces.��

This year, for the first time, the public may visit the�� facility, a renovated warehouse at 1606 Rowan St. in the historic Portland neighborhood. Hite faculty and MFA students will operate studios there with capacity for a range of media, including ceramics, drawing, fiber, glass, painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, book arts and design.

This year also continues a partnership with , which makes free bike rentals available to OSW attendees. LouVelo will lead a free guided bike tour of downtown and Portland studios departing from Hyland Glass at 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 3.��
��
In addition, a distinguished panel of curators from around the region will select works by participating artists to showcase in the 2018 Louisville Open Studio Weekend Juried Exhibition at Hite’s Cressman Center for Visual Arts, 100 N. Main St. All are welcome to a free opening reception for the exhibition during First Friday Hop, 6-8 p.m., Nov. 2.
��
Open Studio Weekend is 12-6 p.m., Nov. 3 and 4. Tickets are $12 (a 40% decrease from last year), or $10 for students, art educators and LVA members. A ticket provides access to all participating studios and includes a 60-page publication with maps to studio locations, suggested routes, information, and images of participants’ artworks. Purchase tickets on����or at the Cressman Center. All proceeds from the weekend tour benefit the Mary Spencer Nay scholarship at UofL and Children’s Fine Art Classes through LVA.

Participating Hite students and faculty include: , , , , , ,��,��, , Reid Broadstreet, , Rachid Tagoulla,��,��, , ,��,��, ,�� and .

The prestigious $5,000 award is an opportunity for local artists to enhance their careers through a targeted enrichment experience of their own design.

“My most recent body work has been on Jewish memory, identity and legacy,” said Szwedzinski. “As an artist, I am continually mindful of who I intend as my audience. I question why it is important for me to make work about Judaism and how my work connects to contemporary issues.”

Szwedzinski will use the award to visit the Jewish Contemporary Museum and the Holocaust Center in San Francisco, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Archives in Washington, D.C., and the Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as well as to take a course at the Rare Book School in Philadelphia.

“I believe that the act of remembering is a powerful tool in fostering empathy and breaking barriers of bias,” Szwedzinski said. “It’s important, now more than ever, to remind people that when true diversity is present in a community is when we all thrive.”

honored Szwedzinski with a June 21.

The Hadley Prize is awarded from the George and Mary Alice Hadley Fund at the . Focused on the arts and humanities, particularly visual arts, crafts, theater and the Louisville Free Public Library, the endowment has supported the community for more than 25 years.

The winner is selected through a blind process by a diverse panel of arts professionals from Louisville and the surrounding area. The 2018 prize drew 40 applicants from the greater Louisville area, including Southern Indiana, whose work demonstrated mastery in ceramics, graphic design, drawing, crafts, painting, photography, sculpture, video, film and printmaking.

“Art soothes and calms our collective souls. Art causes us to question and to think. Through the years, art has been used to tell the story of those who came before. The work of KCJ Szwedzinski is powerful and will cause those who see her work to pause and reflect on this horrific period in our history,” said LVA’s Executive Director,��Lindy Casebier. “Louisville Visual Art is pleased to partner with the Community Foundation of Louisville in support of KCJ’s growth as an artist and in turn share that personal growth with others in our community.”

Szwedzinski’s itinerary has been designed to fuse personal history and artistic inspiration, “to synthesize seemingly disparate bodies of knowledge – archival practices for historical information and my personal inherited legacies.”

“This experience will broaden my ability to make work that is rooted in my own Judaic heritage,” said Szwedzinski, “while facilitating engagement of a more universal audience.”

The Hadley Prize is just one of the ways that the Community Foundation of Louisville supports local artists. Hadley Creatives is the Foundation’s six-month comprehensive professional development program for working artists that recently celebrated its inaugural class with an exhibition running through July 1 at . Five Hite graduates participated in the��program and exhibition: Miranda Becht (MFA 2017),��Sandra Charles (BFA 2015),��Rebecca Norton (BFA 2004), Cynthia Norton (MAT 2004) and Autumn Lindsey (BFA 2017).

From Jan. 19-Feb. 24, the will display drawings by Grubola that emerged from his return to a 43-year practice of drawing weekly. The opening reception is 6 p.m. Jan. 19.

“When my 17-year tenure as chair ended in 2010, along with its administrative burdens, I was able to return to my first two loves: drawing human figures and teaching full time,” he said.

He began hiring a model for drawing in the Hite studios on Fridays, hence the exhibition title, “The Friday Sessions.” ��

Grubola also spent decades drawing moving bodies and recently returned to drawing dancers at the Louisville Ballet’s Thursday rehearsals. These sessions formed his second new body of work, “The Thursday Sessions,” also on display at the Cressman.

In celebration of Grubola’s significant impact as a teacher, Hite Art Institute is also hosting an exhibition of work by Grubola’s many former students. “Selections from the teachings of James Grubola” is on display through Feb. 9 in .

Grubola’s show was recently featured in , which noted his distinguished teaching career.��

“For James Grubola, the most important metric is established by his students, so the crucial measure is in the achievements from thousands of people who earned their Bachelor’s degrees through UofL since 1975, when he joined the faculty. But the credentials and formal recognitions are certainly there:

• 2001 – “Red Apple Award” for excellence in teaching from UofL’s Alumni Association.
• 2008 – ��the “Trustee’s Award,” one of the university’s highest awards which annually recognizes one faculty member who has had the greatest positive impact on students.
• 2015 – College of Arts and Sciences “Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching.”

Under Grubola’s leadership as chair, Hite saw the introduction of the Mary Spencer Nay Scholarship Endowment, the addition of a program in glass housed in the Cressman Center, the university’s first, permanent, non-medical facility downtown, and the adoption of a selective admissions policy for the department.��

“Early in their careers, Grubola and his wife, artist and curator Kay Grubola, were artists-in-residence at the Christopher Ballet in Michigan, and when he was a graduate student at Indiana University he drew during ballet classes, so the interest in dance figures is nothing new, yet it is interesting that an artist who favors silverpoint and goldpoint as mediums should be focused so intently on the kineticism of choreographed movement,” wrote Artebella … “The kineticism is there, formed in vigorous line around the barely detectable dancers in motion – think of the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character in full whirling dervish mode. The suggestion of animation seems entirely appropriate to the forceful way Grubola captures the grace and athleticism of dance with such immediacy. The artist has a deep and profound relationship to the world of ballet that is communicated with great clarity.”

Two alums of got to be part of the action.

The company tapped Ashley Trommler, who graduated in 2011, to design the graphics for its installer vans. They also commissioned Carrie Donovan, class of 2016, to design a building mural in Portland, one of the first neighborhoods to receive the service. ��

“While, yes, I’m stoked to have Google on my resume, this project meant so much more than that,” Trommler said. “I’m honored to be a small part of something so monumental for our city.”

Trommler said Google reached out to several Louisville designers in June to submit concepts for the van design.

“They gave us a lot of freedom,” she said. “It had to contain ‘Louisville’ in the text, no Google branding, represent our city in a unique way,��and be inclusive and mindful of the city’s diversity and not isolating in any way.”

Trommler immediately got going, waking up at 5 a.m. for several days on her family vacation to hammer out concepts. She ended up presenting three different designs that included a breakdown of symbols and meanings and mockups on the actual van. Six days later, she received an e-mail from Google Fiber saying they loved her artwork and wanted to work with her exclusively.

Trommler, who is the art director at ��marketing agency, spent the next month tweaking the design, knowing that Google Fiber would launch this fall.��

She wanted her design to convey the overall southern hospitality��that Louisville��is known for. She used a light-hearted color palette and playful “Hey Y’all” banner to give that friendly Louisville feeling.��

“In a community that is saturated with amazing design talent, I tend to fall victim to imposter syndrome more often than I’d like to admit,” she said. “This partially became a project to prove to myself that yes, I can do work for Google and it’s going to be great.”

Donovan answered a call for murals from����a partner with Google Fiber, and was one of three artists chosen to complete murals in the company’s initial neighborhoods. She worked with , a non-profit, pay-as-you-can restaurant in Portland, to come up with a mural design that represents their mission.����

“Letting the community shine was really important to Google Fiber, and I love that they are supporting the arts and neighborhoods in Louisville,” said Donovan, who works as a graphic designer at the .��

Her design says “Portland flows with promise” which represents all that happens in the Promise Building (of which The Table Cafe is a part). The semicircle and banner shape connect the different spaces in the building visually and the type style and layout represent ‘flow’ as Portland is near the river and the work that happens in the Promise Building flows into the community.

“My experience at Hite prepared me so well for a project like this, especially my letterforms class with Professor Steve Skaggs and Design for Public Issues with Leslie Friesen. They taught me to look carefully at type and to manage real life projects,” she said.��

Friesen maintains contact with both students and is proud of the work they are producing.

“I’m always impressed by what our alums are doing. It’s a great point of pride to see their work selected for projects like this,” Friesen said.