Memphis University School hosts a professional artist each year for a weeklong Artist-in-Residence program. Students observe and participate in the creation of a new work that then joins the school's permanent collection. This program, which began in 2011, allows students to learn about artistic techniques and motivations firsthand from a professional local artist.
We Dwell in Possibilities
Shelley Bolton, 2024
Acrylic mixed media
Inspired by a student's photograph, abstract artist Shelley Bolton depicts Hyde Library with the foreground tree representing the root system of the school sending its branches upward and outward. The artist started the process by writing phrases on the canvas conveying school folklore and famous quotes, including the words from poet Emily Dickinson that influenced the title.
Spend time Not Money
Brandon "Nosey" Marshall, 2023
Acrylic on Canvas
Grounded in street art and design, Brandon "Nosey" Marshall reminds the viewer that time is the ultimate form of currency. In the same way a hip-hop producer might sample works from the past, this painting is based on a collage sampling vintage cartoons and original illustrations. Nosey tells us that the real treasure in life is our time and how we choose to spend it so we should make the most of moments with family, friends, teachers, and classmates!
Transmit and Receive
Amy Hucheson, 2022
Oil on canvas
Fueled by joy, physical movement, and jazz, Amy Hutchison invites viewers to forget their troubles and get lost in a delightful world of color, humor, and mark making. Her painting is an abstract exploration of the relationships among space, line, color, and form.
Radio Matrix
Roger Allan Cleaves, 2020
Oil on canvas
Radial Matrix continues the story of the Potion Maker from Roger Allan Cleaves' Forget Me Nots Land. In his created world, a cast of minority characters interact with symbols and icons to comment about contemporary society using abstract figuration as a mode of expression. His work has ties to Afrofuturism and uses complex invention with a cohesive storyline to push the boundaries of his fictional story. For this piece Cleaves borrows familiar campus elements, including a 1900-era MUS logo, a theater-prop airplane designed by Faculty Emeritus Andy Saunders, and a taxidermy lion that once presided over Hyde Library.
Clover XVI
Beth Edwards, 2019
Oil on canvas
In her continued exploration of nature and scale, painter Beth Edwards invites us to look for beauty that can be found underfoot. By enlarging quiet scenes of foliage and flowers, she shows us the intricacies of overlooked, everyday scenes. Her repetition of leaves, gentle color palette, and soft blending give her painting a meditative, serene, and somewhat somber quality.
Untitled (for PMB, MUS, GBP)
Hamlett Dobbins, 2018
Acrylic on canvas
Borrowing from various elements of MUS life, Hamlett Dobbins incorporates paint splatters from the Faculty Portrait Series painting of artist Peter M. Bowman, shapes from a vintage yearbook composite of the school’s founders, patterns from Giovanni Battista Piranesi etchings in Humphreys Hall, and inspiration from student drawings.
The Fate of Adonis
Tad Lauritzen Wright, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
Tad Lauritzen Wright interprets the Greek myth in which Aphrodite and Persephone compete for the affection of Adonis, exploring a man’s need for two women in his lifetime – first his mother, then his wife. The artist uses one single line drawn across the canvas – starting in Adonis’s hair and ending in Aphrodite’s lap – and he creates depth and value by retracing lines and adding patterns.
An Attempt at Empathy
Michael Roy, aka Birdcap, 2016
Acrylic and gouache on canvas
Street-art muralist and illustrator Birdcap creates a modern-day version of What the Water Gave Me, a 1938 biographical self-portrait by Frida Kahlo. As 21st century men, we attempt to empathize with struggles that we may never fully understand. Thus, we often fall short.
Flag
Pinkney Herbert, 2015
Mixed media on board
Painted a few weeks after the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, Pinkney Herbert’s painting demonstrates how, in an abstract way, we are all one. The red, white, and blue of the French flag mimics the MUS lettering on the football field, and the student body is featured in photos collaged beneath the surface.
The School House
Jared Small, 2014
Oil on board
Finding beauty in dilapidation, Jared Small takes a look back in time to how the original MUS campus could have appeared. It speaks to the simple roots that laid the foundation for the institution we are today. The unfinished look of the painting strikes viewers in distinct ways.
The Journey
Nancy Cheairs, 2013
Oil on canvas
Nancy Cheairs creates a dream-like representation of the path each student travels throughout his walk at MUS. Whether participating in athletics, student leadership, service projects, or clubs – we are all unique, yet we are all unified in our journey here.
Sophisticated Lady
George Hunt, 2012
Mixed media on canvas
A master of texture and collage, George Hunt fashions a Sophisticated Lady based on a song of the same title by jazz legend Duke Ellington. If you look closely, you will see remnants of everyday objects, including mop string for the lady’s hair and cotton fabric for her blouse.
Veritas & Honorque
David Lynch, 2011
Acrylic on canvas
Through the eye of David Lynch, the MUS campus takes on a fanciful, reality-bending quality. Using bright colors and exaggerated perspectives, the artist reminds us that it is OK – and often beautiful – to be just a little bit different.
