Art Gallery
Rockford University Art Professor and Fatherless Art Collective to Showcase ‘Constant Pressure’ Friday
Rockford University Art Professor and Fatherless Art Collective to Showcase ‘Constant Pressure’ Friday06/07/2023 3:32 pm
By Sara Myers, Digital Media & Communications Specialist
Rockford University Associate Professor of Art David Menard said he never thought he would become as ingrained in the Rockford Community as he has, but his work — particularly with art collective Fatherless Print Posse — has made him a staple in the Rockford art scene, and globally.
When Menard is not teaching Rockford University art classes, he spends some of his leisure time working with the local art collaboration group. Fatherless Print Posse is known for its live printmaking shows and exhibits.
He’s currently preparing for Friday’s free show and opening night for Fatherless’ newest exhibit titled, “Constant Pressure,” which will take place from 5- 8 p.m. at the Rockford Art Museum, located at 711 N. Main St. in Rockford.
“We’re calling it a visual exploration of identity activism and collaboration because all of us use printmaking in some way to talk about social issues or whatever the situation,” Menard said.
The artist and educator didn’t know that he would end up in Rockford, but the one thing that has always been certain is his passion for art. The Arlington Heights, Ill. native said he quickly realized his love of drawing at a young age. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kansas City Art Institute and Master’s of Fine Arts from University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“I came here and became part of the community, which I didn’t really see happening,” Menard said, adding that now everyone is connected.
“Some of the people (his former students) that were in my classes are now teaching my kids. The math teacher at Guilford was one of my former students and now he’s teaching my kids.”
Prior to joining the Rockford University Art Department, Menard worked mainly in the Chicagoland area, although he had opportunities across the country. He said he chose to stay in the Midwest.
It was at a teaching conference in New York City where Menard said he met former RU Art professor Bob McCauley. That’s when he learned about a temporary job opening that needed to be filled for one year.
The opportunity became his and he accepted. After the year, Menard returned back to the Chicago printmaking industry. A few years later he was hired back at RU when McCauley told Menard he was retiring. Since 2006, Menard has taught classes on painting, drawing, and printmaking at RU.
Fatherless
In 2012, Menard was invited to give a talk on his experience in printmaking at the Rockford Art Museum. After his lecture, he was approached by three local artists Greg Lang, Javier Jimenez, and Jarrod Hennis. The three men told Menard they were into printmaking and had their own studio they worked at, where they invited him to stop by.
“I came by their shop and they were t-shirt guys who used screen printing to make t-shirts,” Menard said. “They were doing these one offs where they would all get together and they would print on fallen wood or paper or one guy jumped up and took his shirt off and they printed on his belly.”
The guys asked him to do a “guest spot” at the shop and he quickly became part of the group, Menard said.
The name Fatherless comes from a quote from American rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and was the other members’ idea before Menard joined, he said.
“It doesn’t come from one single source,” Menard said, about the art the group makes. “The style doesn’t have a father. It was born in the street, and when I’m gone it will still be on the street. There’s no father on my side of the street. When we do it all together, it’s like a band.”
He adds that the shows are now one after another. Fatherless has been to Chicago, Milwaukee, Miami, Los Angeles and also to London, where they met now-member Ben Rider. Hennis is no longer part of the group now.
Fatherless’ art can be seen on the streets of London and in downtown Rockford in murals.
“Javier has been screen printing since he was a teenager on his mother’s kitchen table,” he said. “Greg has his degree in Graphic Design. My degree is in printing. The three of us together, formed this team. We take on these ambitious projects that none of us by ourselves could do.”
Rider recently came into town from the U.K. to help create work for their upcoming show at the Rockford Art Museum (RAM).
Fatherless has also invited other artists to be involved in the show as well. Artists include Aida Wilde, Atlan Arceo-Witzl, Chema Skandal!, Ganzeer, Jesse Shaw, Liz Born, and Nicole Marrozuin. The exhibit will end Sept. 24.
Learn more at RockfordArtMuseum.org.
Past Art Gallery Exhibitions
05/30/2018 1:59 pm
2023-2024 (coming soon)
2022-2023
2022
2017-18
2016-17
2015-16
2013-14
2012-13
2011-12
Art Gallery
08/05/2016 3:29 pm
ROCKFORD UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY
The Rockford University Art Gallery provides a varied series of art exhibitions and related programming in support of the Department of Art and Art History and is an important educational and cultural resource for the campus and community. The Gallery is located in the Clark Arts Center, the locus of the University’s Department of Art and Art History.
FALL 2016 Exhibits
Michael Reedy
Done Undone
Exhibition dates:
September 16 – October 14
Friday, September 30
Reception for the artist: 6 – 8:30pm
Artist lecture: 6:30pm
Michael Reedy examines the transience of the human condition by exploring memory, visual complexity, and ornamentation. His interest in cartooning and medical illustration has influenced his figurative work. Reedy creates a visual paradox of harmony and dissonance with his seductive figures that instills both a quiet contemplation and a nervous tension.
Letitia Quesenberry
small antidote
Exhibition dates:
October 28 – December 2, 2016
Friday, October 28
Reception for the artist: 6-8:30pm
Letitia Quesenberry uses subtlety and obscurity as tools of investigation, lenses through which she inspects themes of memory, perception, and representation. While her portfolio varies in approach and message, a unity of effect runs through her work. Quesenberry offers this thread of continuity, a cognitive emotional moment of rest and quiet, to consider the many ways that certainty is elusive and ambiguity is compelling.
Gallery hours:
Monday, Thursday, Friday: 3-6pm
Wednesday: 12-3pm
or by appointment, call 815.226.4105
Rockford University Art Gallery
Clark Arts Center
5050 E. State Street
Rockford, IL 61108
815-226-4105Contact: Gallery Director Ari Norris, anorris@rockford.edu
Admission is free.
Hours:
- Current Gallery Hours: Tuesdays 11am-1pm, Thursdays from 2pm-5pm, Fridays 1pm-3pm
- Contact Ari Norris
- Or by appointment
Visit us on Facebook and Instagram!
The gallery does not accept unsolicited exhibition proposals.
Art Gallery
Art Gallery07/26/2016 10:44 pm
ROCKFORD UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY
Rockford University Art Gallery is always free.
Open to the public:
- Current Gallery Hours: Tuesdays 11am-1pm, Thursdays from 2pm-5pm, Fridays 1pm-3pm
- Contact anorris@rockford.edu
- Or by appointment
Contact: Gallery Director Ari Norris at anorris@rockford.edu
The Rockford University Art Gallery provides a varied series of art exhibitions and related programming in support of the Department of Art and Art History and is an important educational and cultural resource for the campus and community. The Gallery is located in the Clark Arts Center, the locus of the University’s Department of Art and Art History.
Spring 2024 Exhibitions
Quick Square
On Display: January 22nd-February 23rd
Closing Reception: February 23rd, 6-8pm
Paul Erschen is Department Chair and Professor of Visual Art at the University of St. Francis, in Joliet, IL and workshop leader at the ACRE art residency program in Steuben, WI. In August 2022, Erschen attended residency at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts ceramics in Newcastle, ME. Paul holds degrees from The Ohio State University (MFA, 2000) and Northern Illinois University, (BFA, 1998).
Gina Hunt’s practice fuses painting, sculpture, and site-responsive installation. Research interests include histories of abstraction, theories of color and perception, and imaging technologies spanning early photographic processes to spectroscopy. Working with canvas, dye, paint, scrim, and wood, her works are sites of perceptual phenomena while remaining rooted in a material-based physicality.
Gina has presented solo exhibitions at Syracuse University, The Franklin, South Texas College, 65GRAND, Western Pole and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, among others. Two-person and group exhibitions include The Plan, STNDRD, EXPO Chicago, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Practise, Heaven Gallery, and Circle Contemporary, among others.
Gina has participated in residencies at Chicago Artists Coalition, Badlands National Park, Hinge Arts, and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. She is currently a Lecturer in Drawing and Painting at Loyola University Chicago and represented by 65GRAND.
Rockford Art Museum presents
the 83rd Annual Young
Artist Show
Rockford Art Museum presentsHigh School Division On Display: March 1st – March 17th
Youth Division On Display: March 23rd – April 14th
Due to the ongoing HVAC renovation project at Rockford Art Museum, the 83rd Young Artist
Show will be held at Rockford University Clark Arts Center in 2024.
The first Young Artist Show occurred in the spring of 1941, demonstrating the Rockford Art
Association’s (now Rockford Art Museum’s) commitment to young, emerging artists in the
greater Rockford area. The exhibition included 57 artworks of various media by 28 artists,
including high school upper-classmen and college-age artists. The choice to make the Young
Artist Show a part of the museum’s annual exhibition schedule revealed the museum’s
understanding of the dynamic role that art experiences and art education play in the lives of
young people.
Since its inception, the Young Artist Show has evolved and grown to become a Rockford
tradition. Today, the popular exhibition bears a reputation of excellence, expanding from its
modest local beginnings to become a regional show featuring students from public, private,
parochial and home-school settings. It is consistently Rockford Art Museum’s most popular
exhibition of the year.
The exhibition now includes two distinct exhibits that recognize and celebrate outstanding
students and the dedicated teachers who contribute to the quality of artwork submitted. The
juried High School Division includes approximately 300 artworks by over 200 high school
students. Students entering the High School Division compete for more than $2,000 in
scholarship and recognition awards. The Youth Division includes artwork in a variety of media
by kindergarten through eighth-grade students from the Rockford area. Art teachers select the
work to be included in the exhibition. About 500 students’ pieces are displayed in the Youth
Division. Both divisions of the exhibition showcase an amazing array of exceptional student
artwork and present the strength and diversity of art programs across the region.
ODDS & ENDS: Senior Art Exhibition
ODDS & ENDS: Senior Art ExhibitionOn Display: May 10-17th
Opening Reception: May 10th, 6-8pm
ODDS & ENDS: Senior Art Exhibition showcases the best work of students graduating with a BFA in either 2D Art or Graphic Design. Students included in the show are: Madison Bruno, Paige Bruno, Quay Fort, Lime Jao, Fatima Mohamed, Payton Mohr, Angelica Ramos Ortiz, Geniss Scharnweber, and Elyse Shewan. The space will be shared for the Fingerprints magazine release party
Rockford University Art Gallery
Clark Arts Center
5050 E. State Street
Rockford, IL 61108
815-226-4105Contact: Gallery Director Ari Norris, anorris@rockford.edu
Admission is free.
Hours:
- Current Gallery Hours: Tuesdays 11am-1pm, Thursdays from 2pm-5pm, Fridays 1pm-3pm
- Contact Ari Norris
- Or by appointment
Visit us on Facebook and Instagram!
The gallery does not accept unsolicited exhibition proposals.
