The Sum Total of Teachers and Doers — UWM faculty art exhibit

Whoever said, “Those who can, do; and those who can’t, teach” hasn’t attended Sum Total Faculty Exhibition 2009, the UWM Peck School of the Arts Department of Visual Art biennial faculty show. Work from 27 faculty artists, in a range of media, can barely be contained within the modest Inova Gallery. Nor could the excitement on opening night.

For many of the artists, last Friday night’s reception was a bit like show-and-tell, a much-deserved opportunity to display their own skills after teaching theory and technique as a day job. For students, it was nice to see professors practice what they teach. Some student favorites included Stacey Lee Webber’s ladder crafted from pennies and Frankie Flood’s mechanical-extension’s bike .

The exhibition, which runs through Nov. 7, includes the work of Karen Gunderman, who recently won first prize at the IX Biennial International Ceramics Exhibition — Aveiro 2009 in Portugal. Here in Milwaukee, Gunderman’s ceramic sextuplet entitled Bramble is hanging in good company alongside works from her colleagues, including Kim Beckmann-Moegenberg, Adream V. Blair, Marna Goldstein Brauner, Kyoung Ae Cho, Allison B. Cooke, Christopher Davis-Benavides, Raoul Deal, Lee Ann Garrison, Hans Gindlesberger, Yevgeniya Kaganovich, Justin M. Kennedy, Kay Knight, Charles A. Kraus, Jessica Meuninck-Ganger, Lisa Moline, Josie Osborne, Stephen H. Pevnick, Denis Sargent, Naomi Shersty, Nathaniel Stern, Marcelino Stuhmer, Leslie Vansen, Heather Warren-Crow and Fo Wilson.

Some of the artists confessed to having difficulty deciding which piece to display for Sum Total 2009 since the show is limited to just one entry each. And after being there, I can see why — it’s clear that these artists have the ability to both teach and do. If you’d like to see for yourself, stop by the Inova/Arts Center.

Sum Total Faculty Exhibition 2009
Through Nov. 7
Inova/Arts Center
2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. Milwaukee
414-229-5070
Open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.