Mind’s Eye

The Observers, 2006, graphite on paper, 30 by 22 inches At the end of the spring 2017 semester, after 37 years of teaching Vanderbilt undergraduates drawing and painting, Professor of Art Marilyn Murphy will retire. From the beginning Murphy has brought an interesting point of view to her… Read More

In his American Epic series, currently on display at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Shaw presents broad themes like religion and technology in lush, detailed and sometimes disturbing imagery, rooting his interpretation in the style of the painters of the Mexican Mural Renaissance. Read More

It has been 47 years since Ben Shahn’s mosaic Peabody—1968 was dedicated in the Hobbs Human Development Laboratory on what was then the campus of George Peabody College for Teachers. The effort to commission Shahn, an artist well known for his advocacy for the poor, was spearheaded by Susan Gray, professor of psychology, emerita, and an advocate for children, particularly those held back developmentally by poverty. Read More

Politics and politicians have never been spared the cartoonist’s pen From Charlie Hebdo to the lampooning of U.S. presidential candidates, political cartoons continue to be a staple of editorial pages. While the rise of digital media—and the decline of newspapers—may have reduced their reach, political cartoons remain one of the… Read More

Those who proclaimed the demise of printed books several years ago when e-readers were first introduced are now eating their words, as sales of traditional books have rebounded. There’s just nothing quite like the real thing. Read More

Forging Identity—Imagining the Enemy: American Propaganda and the Great War at the Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery draws on a large number of World War I posters from the Peabody College Collection that focus on the need for troops, money, medical personnel and supplies, and a spirit of public unity. Read More

Halpern, a 12-time National Park Service artist-in-residence, is currently working at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. Read More

For 20 years the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, in sponsorship with the Nashville Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities, has put together an annual exhibit of work by artists with a wide range of ages, abilities and disabilities called Creative Expressions. Read More

Donna Ferrato's photos, which were on display at the Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery, focus on the prevalence of violence against women in our society. Read More

In the Jean and Alexander Heard Library exhibit The Golden Age of Sports Journalism: Grantland Rice and Fred Russell, baseball takes center stage, as it has all summer at Vanderbilt. Read More

The installation “How to Build a Forest”—built during the course of two days in March in Neely Auditorium by a group of artists, students and anyone who wanted to join in—was a reminder about the world’s interconnectedness. Read More

Fritz Eichenberg’s technical expertise in the difficult and now somewhat obscure medium of wood engraving, combined with his discerning eye and passion for literature, does more than illustrate words on a page. Read More

Mark Kendall’s debut documentary film is ostensibly about the journey made by a decommissioned American school bus to become a mode of transportation for Guatemalan workers. But the film is really about how something as seemingly insignificant as a bus can be part of something larger. Read More

Hyman’s burial urn, by Susan DeMay (Credit: Steve Green) When Sylvia Hyman died Dec. 23, 2012, at age 95, the visual artist renowned for her strikingly realistic ceramic pieces realized her last request. She became a physical part of the medium she had practiced for more than… Read More

Some people see a gigantic chunk of rope when they see a hawser line, which is a rope used in mooring or towing a ship. But when visual artist Huguette Despault May came upon one, she saw metaphors for the human condition. Read More