This exhibition features work by internationally recognized artists and friends Margaret Evangeline and Hunt Slonem. With ties to the American South, both artists are inspired by romantic aesthetics that originate particularly in Louisiana and play into the larger history of the United States. Their shared vision as artists and friends dovetail into their evocative and painterly work.

Margaret Evangeline is a New York based, Louisiana born painter who experiments with resistant materials. Fluctuating between creating works with aluminum punctured with bullet holes and heavily worked oil on canvas paintings, she is often inspired by beloved authors of the South coupled with an interest in psychic and social systems. She received both her BFA and MFA from University of New Orleans. Evangeline is the recipient of awards, including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, 2001.Her work has been included in exhibitions at such notable museums as The Palm Beach ICA, The Hafnarborg Art Museum outside Reykjavik, Iceland, the Taipei Museum in Taiwan, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Her work is frequently written about in The New York Times, Art in America, ARTnews, The Chicago Tribune, Architectural Digest, among other publications.

Hunt Slonem is a New York and Louisiana based artist who fascination with exotica and spirituality pervades his work. Inspired by various legends of history, animals, objects d'art and Victorian gothic, often his paintings are inscribed with ghosts overlaid on existing images. He received his BFA from Tulane University in Louisiana and studied painting at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Since 1977, Slonem has had over 150 solo exhibitions. Over 75 museums internationally include his work in their collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum, both in New York. His artwork as well as his homes have been featured in multiple publications including the New York Times, Art in America, Elle Magazine, New York Post and Vanity Fair to name a few. Slonem divides his time between Louisiana where he owns two plantation homes on the historic register, Albania in St. Mary's Parish and Lakeside in Pointe Coupee; and New York City where he has lived and worked since 1973.

The Eleanor D. Wilson Museum has been incredibly fortunate to be the recipient of a number of new works given by generous donors to the museum's collection 2010 and 2011. Treasures from the Vault is a continuing exhibition series; this edition features artwork created in a variety of media and styles from internationally recognized artists such as Jack Beal, Tanja Softic, Fiona Ross, Suzanne Fields, Margaret Evangeline, Hunt Slonem and many more. Director Amy Moorefield comments, "We are fortunate to have received several gifts created by important artists who have contributed greatly to the global artistic landscape. Sincerest gratitude to the donors who have given so generously to our collection." The Wilson Museum's collection is a rich source for students, scholars and the Roanoke Valley in a variety of ways such as museological courses, internships, and curatorial opportunities. Treasures from the Vault underscores the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum's mission as a repository of significant works of modern and contemporary art.

As curator of the Museum of Mesmerism, 2012 Frances Niederer Artist-in-Residence Beverly Rayner represents a museum in Bzinica Stara, Poland, which displays uncanny artifacts, many of which are centuries old. This exhibition at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum "borrows" those items. In actuality, Rayner has crafted every piece on display as well as the concept of the Museum of Mesmerism, the illusion of rare paranormal objects, and an exotic archive.

Beverly Rayner has a B.F.A. in sculpture and an M.F.A. in photography and teaches both photography and mixed media art. Rayner learned the art of resurrecting forlorn objects from her father and inherited a photographic eye from her mother. Rayner is represented by Braunstein/Quay Gallery in San Francisco and G. Gibson Gallery in Seattle. She has been in a multitude of solo and group exhibitions at galleries and museums in the U.S. and abroad. Her work is in the collections of the Oakland Museum of California; the Berkeley Art Museum, CA; and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX; as well as in many other prominent public and private collections. She received the Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship in 2007.

The Frances Niederer Artist-in-Residence program allows Hollins University to bring a nationally recognized artist to campus every year. In residence during the spring semester, the artist teaches and works with students and faculty.

Los Angeles based artist Liza Ryan connects emotion and movement to explore the fragmented passing of time.  The artist writes, “I describe time as it is experienced, not as calculated by a clock.”  Her large-scale photographs alternately depict chaos and realism, tranquility and terror, and the testing of boundaries.  A cinematic site-specific work titled Rare Bloom created exclusively for this exhibition unites these themes to uncover the unusual, non-linear experiences of daily life.

Ryan studied at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, and the San Francisco Art Institute before earning her M.F.A. at the California State University at Fullerton, CA. Ryan’s work has been included in museum exhibitions at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Miami Art Museum. She has also been the subject of solo exhibitions at Reed College’s Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery and the Herter Gallery at the University of Massachusetts.  She was one of three American artists selected to exhibit at the Biennale of Sydney in 2006.  Her work is in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; and the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH, among others. She is represented by Kayne Griffin Corcoran Gallery in Santa Monica, California.

A full-color catalogue documenting the exhibition with essays by Amy Moorefield, Museum Director and Johanna Ruth Epstein, Ph.D, Art Historian and Hollins University Assistant Professor of Art will be available in May 2012.  Excerpts of the poetry of Mina Ryan, Hollins class of 1959 and mother of Liza Ryan, will also be included in this catalogue.  Funding for Liza Ryan: Fragment is made possible in part by Kayne Griffin Corcoran Gallery and Wyndham Robertson.

This exhibition features the work of members of the Hollins University class of 2012 majoring in studio art: Julie Marie Andrews, Arden B. Cone, Amanda M. Dibben, Mercedes Eliassen, Melissa S. Hammond, Rebecca Nadeau, Lindsay C. Overstreet, Brittany M. Owens, Ashley S. Pannell, LaDonna Richerson, Tamra L. Sloan, Jacqui Sommerman, Alyssa Spaulding,
Avrah S. Urecki, Mary Wells, and Rhonda A. Wilson. Join us at the campus preview reception to congratulate these hardworking students. The family reception at the conclusion of the show is a celebration for parents and relatives who are on campus for commencement.

The second part of this exhibition will focus on both the story and the original art of the classic book Goodnight Moon, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.  Over the past 60 years, Goodnight Moon has become the quintessential bedtime story, selling more than 11 million copies worldwide.  Featuring illustrations created by world-renowned artist Clement Hurd and written by Hollins alumna and perennial favorite Margaret Wise Brown, the original artwork from the book is paired with artifacts from the book’s production from the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota.  This exhibition concludes Hollins’ yearlong festival celebrating the life and work of Margaret Wise Brown.  The festival has included a musical stage production of Goodnight Moon; a performance of The Runaway Bunny; a presentation of Goodnight Moon, a lullaby for orchestra and voice; as well as workshops, story hours, and lectures.  This exhibition is included in the statewide initiative Virginians for the Arts 2012 MINDS WIDE OPEN theme of “Virginia Celebrates Children and the Arts.”  This continuing celebration is the first of its kind to be offered to the mid-Atlantic region.  With references to both the visual arts and literature, the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum and Hollins University will help children and parents explore how the arts on all levels shape families, generations, and communities.

Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952) was one of the first authors to write specifically for children ages two to five, and created some of the most enduring and well-loved children’s books of all time, in addition to developing the concept of the first durable board book.  Clement Hurd (1908–1988) is recognized worldwide for his work as a children’s book illustrator. He studied with Fernand Léger, a French painter who was a forerunner of the Pop Art movement.  This experience translated into his classic style using flat colors and simple, elegant shapes in such books as The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon.

Ceramicist Alice Hohenberg Federico draws inspiration from ancient Greek vessels, traditional Japanese techniques, and modern English pottery to create sensuous sculptures.  Her rounded vases feature elaborate handles, highlighting the contrast between the functionality and delicacy of her work.  Lance Esplund of The Wall Street Journal writes, “Federico’s vases evoke classical antiquity; her handles bring those forms into the here and now.” In addition to these works, Federico has also created new vessels for this exhibition. These streamlined vases showcase the artist’s continued dedication to the exploration of form.

Born in 1945, Alice Federico has been making pots for over 40 years.  She graduated from Hollins in 1967 with a major in American history.  In 1969, she moved to Norfolk, VA to study clay at the Chrysler Museum School.  She received her M.F.A. from East Carolina University in 1975.  Federico went back to school in 1981 to study with Ken Ferguson at the Kansas City Art Institute.  Her work has been shown in the Vallauris Biennial, the First Mino International, and the 28th Ceramic National at the Everson Museum.  In 2002, she spent six weeks working at the Archie Bray Foundation.  Since 2004, she has been represented by the George Billis Gallery in New York City and Los Angeles.  She is married to Salvatore Federico, a geometric abstract painter.  They live and work in New York City and Sullivan County, NY.

To commemorate their 20th anniversary, the Andy Warhol Foundation donated nearly 30,000 of Warhol's Polaroids and black and white prints to more than 180 educational institutions across the country, including Stanair Gallery at Washington and Lee University, Olin Hall Galleries at Roanoke College, and the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University. These institutions have collaborated to present highlights from their individual collections in a three-part exhibition.  In this final edition, the Wilson Museum pairs selections from the photographic legacy gift with work by Warhol's contemporaries as well as examples by artists who inspired him.

Beverly Semmes is internationally recognized for her unique installations. Her exhibition will include work from her major series since the mid 1990s with a focus on Semmes’ impressive sculptural dresses that range in size from 7 feet to 30 feet long. Also on view will be the artist’s photographic, collage and video work, alongside her ceramic and glass pieces. Semmes challenges the conventional definitions of craft and “women’s work” by creating non-functional pieces out of traditional materials such as clay and fabric.  Semmes received both her BA and BFA from Tufts University and her MFA from the Yale School of Art.  Her work has been exhibited worldwide and is in the collections of the Musée Dole, France; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, CA; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; and many others.  This exhibition is organized by the Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Funding has been generously provided in part by the City of Roanoke through the Roanoke Arts Commission and by Roanoke County.