MCMA is honored to present Metro Montage XIII, our annual juried exhibition.  Thank you to all the artists who submitted and congratulations to those selected. Thank you to our juror, Adera Causey, for her efforts in judging. Causey received her BA in Art History from the University of Maryland, her MA in Art History from George Washington University, and her PhD in Art History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Causey’s areas of specialty and teaching  are American Art, African American Art, Southern Art, and Early Christian Art. She is currently the Curator of Education at the Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN.

Comments From Our Juror Adera Causey: Often when sharing contemporary art with those unfamiliar with it we begin by differentiating  it from previous era’s more narrowly defined  schools and “isms” – proclaiming it about every style, media and theme. In any given open exhibition of contemporary work however, this definition is often too far reaching as quirks of location and trends override to allow one format to shadow others. This exhibition was different than many as I quickly discovered in opening the exhibition file to discover the broad definition of contemporary art billowing out from the pieces – each offering the passion, facility and capacity of artists representing a vast array of forms found in the art world today, all found in the microcosm of an artistically  rich community.  The sheer volume and the high quality of the work was both a delicious treat and a challenging puzzle – how to choose the pieces for the show from among so many skilled offerings.The name of this show – a montage – guided the process as I envisioned a community patchwork of selections representing diversity and complexity, agility and inspiration. As an art historian I was dazzled to the skillful renderings, the stylized through lines that showed proficiency with historical genres or styles brought alive with fresh vision (and at times a winking nod to the past).  As a museum professional, my mind moved through imagined galleries with works whispering, arguing, making love and war as they sat beside one another in unexpected juxtapositions, joining color form and theme to make new meaning. And as the selections unfolded, I found a prevailing delight in texture, in action even in seeming repose, in true vibrancy of form without ever compromising integrity or skill. From this emerged the theme that dances through the show – the pulse and pattern of community.

Exhibited Artists:

Andrea Allengrone

Ben Allgood

Jack Anderson

Mary C. Barkis

Barry Benner

Ginger Birdsey

Clifford Blanchard

Heidi Bowman

Laura Bowman

Susan Easton Burns

Alton Coleman

Alice Craig

Melody Croft

Munroe d’Antignac

Gwendolyn Darby

Nikki Davidson

Mary Derbes

Maureen Engle

Craig Ford

Mary Ann Goodhue

Beverly Harding

Nancy Barbosa

Kristina Havens

Denny Holmes

Will Holub

Ronald Lamont Irwin

Len Jagoda

Thomas Jordan

Tain Kell

Maureen E. Kerstein

Joe Krawczyk

Karl Gustav Kroeppler

Tom LaBarge

Anna Ladefoged

Linda Lanham

Nan Liu

Jenny Lyon

Eric Mantle

Popi Marden

Lamberte Marden

Celeste McCollough

Patrick McGannon

Kim Meacham

Robert Meredith

Nicole Merkens

Bonnie Moret

Mike Nalley

Bill Needs

Licha Ochoa Nicholson

Bernard Nolan

Virginia Parker

Mary Ann Parris

Judith Peck

Doug Pisik

Junko Ono Rothwell

Sharmila Ghose Roy

Carla Sanchez

Trisha Selgrath

Wesley Stewart

Beth Stormont

Briana Sutton

David Swann

Charlotte Tate

Tommy Taylor

Duat Vu

Gail Wegodsky

Linda Wimberly

Thomas L. Woods