09/06/13 jgm
Ned Day's "Round and Round," which closed the 2012-13 art year at the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art in Rarick Hall on the Fort Hays State University campus, also opened the 2013-14 season.

"Round and Round" will be on display through Sept. 20.

Day, Miller, Neb., is a summer 2013 FHSU graduate with an M.F.A. in ceramics. "Round and Round" is his thesis exhibition.

"'Round and Round' showcases his diversity in sculptural materials," said Linda Ganstrom, professor of art and design. "His design sense has been honed by the decade he spent as a designer. Ned is steadfast, quiet and solid. He has a plan and does whatever is needed to make it happen."

Whether working in stone, steel, wood or clay, Day seeks to create continuous lines with no beginning or end.

"These lines stretch from sleek and sensuous to precarious," said Day. "When those lines are crossed, I feel completely accomplished. Stacked, strung, suspended or set afloat, I send my work off to engage the viewer."

Day earned a spot in two major juried exhibitions while at FHSU and is now employed as a professor at Sinte Glaska's Great Plains Art Institute on the Rosebud Sioux reservation.

The Moss-Thorns Gallery has also announced its exhibit schedule for the fall 2013 and spring 2014 semesters. Artists' receptions will be held in the gallery.

Open to Sept. 20: "NuPenny," a mixed media installation by Randy Regier in Union Pacific Park, 10th and Main. Regier, Wichita, received a degree in art from Kansas State University and a master's degree from Main College of Art, Portland. "NuPenny" is a collection of fabricated toys that are inspired by, or are interpretations of, 20th century American poems, song lyrics and literary works.

Oct. 3 to Oct. 25: "Asevenandawonadoe," a collection of paintings and prints by Matt Ballou, assistant professor of painting and drawing at The University of Missouri.

"I create paintings, drawings and prints in an attempt to address -- through archetypal themes and symbols -- the fundamental questions, ideas, hopes and concerns I have about being in the world," said Ballou. "In tandem, these avenues form a multifaceted array of investigation and inquiry to understand and make sensible the miraculous reality of being."

"Asevenandawonadoe," he says, explores the reality that a vernacular of meaning is constructed through our physical, emotional and intellectual experiences and is an example of something seemingly meaningless taking on meaning through experience, context and subjectivity.

An opening reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3.

Nov. 1 to Nov. 22: Annual Art Faculty Exhibition. An opening reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1.

Dec. 6 to Dec. 20: Bachelor of Fine Arts Studio Exhibition. The Winter Gallery Walk reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6.

Jan. 3 to Jan. 24: Obdulia Lopez, Chula Vista, Calif., Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. The closing reception is 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24.

Jan. 31 to Feb. 21: American Society of Interior Designers Student Chapter Exhibition. The reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31.

Feb. 28 to March 21: Graphic Design Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition. The reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28.

April 4 to April 18: Annual Student Honors Exhibition. The reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 4.

April 16: The annual High School Art Exhibition in Gross Memorial Coliseum is from 8 to 10 a.m.

April 25 to May 16: "Propellere," a collection of sculptures by Sharon McCoy, Monte Vista, Colo., graduate student, features clay figures appearing in "a trance-like state of daydream and is symbolic of unmet desires."

"Fixed on a portrayal of longing and a passionate desire to journey beyond the restrictive present, my figures embody the emotions of isolation and captivity tempered with the hope of escape," said McCoy. "My sculptures capture these glimpses of a daydream world where the chair becomes a vehicle that propels these figures into journeys taken to places that only the imagination can conjure up."

The Spring Gallery Walk reception is from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, April 25.

May 20 to May 29: Michaela (Valli) Groeblacher, Lindsborg, Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition.

"Even though my work spans varied media, it is all about relationships with ourselves, with nature, and with other humans and living creatures," said Groeblacher. "I combine my experience and my interest in the human psyche with both of my artistic loves by sculpting life-like and life-sized people from clay and subsequently finishing the figures in a painterly manner."

June 2 to June 20: Josh Knott, Lincoln, Neb., Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. The Summer Gallery Walk closing reception is from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, June 20.

June 27 to July 17: Christina Lamoureaux, Hoisington, Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. Lamoureaux describes herself as a Kansas Plains Artist focusing on integrating multiple media, specifically ceramic materials as she explores her love of the prairie environments and its creatures.

"My work finds creative solutions that include found object components of the world and are rendered with elegant spontaneity that challenged life's experience and validation," said Lamoureaux.

The opening reception is 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, June 27.