Third Floor History Hallway

Second Floor Galleries B & C

Through this collection, Tim Chandler invites viewers to take their time to reflect on their own relationship with the land and the beauty it holds. These images encourage a sense of connection to the natural world, prompting contemplation of both its past and its evolving future.

Mar 20, 2025 – May 3, 2025

Hosted at the Buffalo Gap Historic Village

As we approach Buffalo Gap’s 150th anniversary in 2025, we’re excited to announce that our town has been chosen as one of the select Texas locations to host the Smithsonian Institute’s Crossroads: Change in Rural America exhibit. Buffalo Gap experienced explosive growth in its early days, followed by quieter periods, yet through it all, our community has preserved what makes this town so special. Today, we proudly maintain our rural way of life while still promoting our small local economy. This event offers a unique opportunity to celebrate our rich history, culture, and contributions to the region. Over six weeks, we’ll explore engaging themes that highlight the essence of our town and the enduring spirit of rural communities.

This exhibit isn’t just about looking back; it’s about connecting our past with our present. Each weekend will feature a unique theme, from the heritage of the buffalo to the evolution of ranching and the role of the military, all brought to life through interactive exhibits and events. Our goal is to create an experience that resonates both locally and with visitors, fostering a deeper appreciation for the history and culture that define us all.

Third Floor History Hallway

Second Floor Galleries A, B, C

A Fine Line features approximately one-third of the 300 drawings in the Old Jail Art Center’s permanent collection. Spanning the seventeenth to twenty-first centuries, this exhibition showcases a broad range of both artists and media.

Works by 71 artists, from internationally recognized Amedeo Modigliani, John Sloan, and Andy Warhol to the talented artists of the Fort Worth Circle, are brought together to underscore the diversity of the collection. A Fine Line also highlights the OJAC’s impressive holdings of works by contemporary artists, alongside those underappreciated in the artistic canon.

While the majority of works are on paper, novel substrates of wax, plywood, cloth, and faux ivory are also introduced. Mark making ranges from conventional graphite, ink, and pastel to the use of copper, soot, and even flames. As such, this exhibition challenges long-held hierarchies and expands our understanding of what constitutes a drawing.

Certainly, drawing is no longer just a precursor to other types of visual art. The singular works in this exhibition offer not only compelling images but creative entry points into meaningful conversations. Drawing’s ability to transcend a fixed set of materials and conventions has ensured the art form’s vitality and power to stimulate change.

Funhouse, curated from the museum’s permanent collection, celebrates the use of humor and levity in art—a much-needed diversion in our lives. Through humor, artists provide a comfortable entry point for ideas, perspectives, and topics that we typically avoid or may never consider. In other cases, works are nonsensical—much like our “normal” realities or unexpected events can be. Works in this concentrated exhibition require the engagement of the viewer. The interaction between object and viewer completes a work, often with surprising, thoughtful, and enlightening results.

The Center for Contemporary Arts is proud to present the 15th Annual juried Intercollegiate Student Art Competition for area college and university students!

The competition is open to students of Abilene Christian University, Cisco College, Hardin-Simmons University, McMurry University, Texas State Technical College, Angelo State University, Howard Payne University, Midwestern State University, South Plains College, and Tarleton State University. Entries may be submitted in any medium as long as the finished piece meets the size and weight restrictions of the category.

EXHIBITION

Entries will be juried by professional, contemporary artists. Work accepted by the jury for exhibition will be displayed in Gallery 3 at The Center for Contemporary Arts January 23 through March 15, 2025. All work selected for the exhibit must remain on display through the end of the show. 

AWARDS

Awards will be given for Best in Show, as well as Best in Category. Awards will also be given for 2nd and 3rd Place in each category, as well as three Honorable Mentions. Awards will be announced and distributed during the Awards Reception, date TBA.

Experience Altered Vision: Down and Dirty, Secrets from a Mad Potter, a ceramic exhibition inspired by nature and the first solo exhibition by Artist Member, Christi Kuppin.

Join us to celebrate Kuppin for the Opening Reception, January 17, 5-7PM in Gallery 4.

Join us for Cultivating Creativity, an exhibition celebrating the artistic talents of local art educators. Explore inspiring works that highlight creativity in the classroom and beyond.

Opening: January 17, 5-7PM

Jane Adams Breed Gallery

Gallery 3, upstairs

Wright Photography Gallery

First Floor Atrium & Main Gallery

Second Floor Alice & Bill Wright Photography Gallery

Second Floor Gallery B

Second Floor Gallery C

The Art Department at Hardin-Simmons University is thrilled to open the Art Alumni Show this week, hosted in the Ira M. Taylor Gallery. This special event is held in conjunction with HSU’s Homecoming celebrations and promises to be a highlight of the weekend. 

Exhibition Details: 

·                     Dates: October 14 - October 26, 2024 

·                     Location: Ira M. Taylor Gallery, at the Frost Center for Visual Arts, Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Tx. 

Public Reception and Artist Talks: 

·                     Date: Thursday, October 24, 2024 

·                     Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM 

·                     Location: Ira M. Taylor Gallery 

·                     Live Broadcast: The reception and artist talks will be broadcast live on the Art Department’s official Instagram channel. 

Join us for an evening of art, conversation, and community as we celebrate the incredible talent of our alumni. The public reception will feature artist talks, providing a unique opportunity to hear directly from the artists about their work and creative processes. 

Alumni and Friends Reception: 

·                     Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024 

·                     Time: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM 

·                     Location: Ira M. Taylor Gallery 

In addition to the public reception, a more casual alumni and friends' reception will be held on Saturday evening. This gathering offers a relaxed environment for alumni and friends to reconnect and enjoy the exhibition. 

We invite all members of the HSU community, alumni, and the public to join us for these special events. Come and experience the vibrant artistic expressions of our talented alumni and be a part of the Homecoming festivities. 

Regular Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday: 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM 

Rafael López is an internationally recognized illustrator and artist. His illustrations bring diverse characters to children’s books and he is driven to produce and promote books that reflect and honor the lives of all young people. Born and raised in Mexico City to architect parents, López was immersed in the rich visual heritage, music and surrealism of his native culture.

2024 Juror: Adela andea

ABOUT CCAN

CCAN is a national juried art competition of the Center for Contemporary Arts in Downtown Abilene. This national competition receives over 350 entries submitted from over 30 states. In 2023 the 7th annual national exhibition and competition received over 367entries submitted from 34 states across the United States. 192 works were selected for exhibition in the Center’s Jane Adams Breed Gallery and Gallery 3.

October 5: Reception + Awards. 3-5 pm at the Center for Contemporary Arts.

Alice + Bill Wright Photography Gallery

Jay Shinn

“Room With a View”

September 21, 2024 – January 11, 2025

Dallas-based artist Jay Shinn recognizes that “early experiences and interests circle back around and play an important part of who we are as adults, even more so through the art we make.” Shinn embraces early artistic influences of mentors, Op Art and Geometric Abstraction artists, construction, and neon signage in his current work. The fascination and incorporation of neon light, including its optical effects on the space and objects around it, guides Shinn in his creations. 

These creations include constructed sculptural objects as well as shaped canvases and panels with painted surface treatments. Shinn’s incorporation of neon lights emphasizes the visual impact of light, pigment, and design. Works on paper hint of the gradations that often occur with an artificial light source that simultaneously distorts, contradicts, and enhances a physical form. 

Shinn describes his installation within Room With a View as “the juxtaposition of a jail cell to a hotel room, so similar, yet so different. A view is important to me, either a view that inspires or simply a lifeline to the outside world. The many windows in the cells provided a place for the eyes and minds of those incarcerated to wander into new thoughts. I hope that now with the art inside these cells, the visitor has another view that allows their mind and senses to travel to a new place.” 

The 2024 Cell Series of exhibitions is generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Paula & Parker Jameson, and the McGinnis Family Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas, with additional funding from Jay & Barbra Clack, Kathy Webster in memory of Charles H. Webster, and Dr. Larry Wolz. 

JAY SHINN, Paradise Central Proof 2, 2019, 6-color lithograph created with neon light, 27.5 x 27.5 in. Courtesy of the artist and Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas.

 A Noble Pastime 

Hunting Pictures from the Collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation

September 21, 2024 – January 11, 2025

The hunt has been a pervasive theme in western art and literature since the time of ancient Greece. The sport, often approaching the status of ritual, was generally heavily regulated and restricted to the nobility, with violators subject to strict penalties including, in some cases, death. A Noble Pastime includes sixteenth- to nineteenth-century representations of various aspects of the chase, such as hunting expeditions, game pieces, and portraits of hunters as well as animals. This exhibition seeks to illuminate various hunting methods, to underscore the role of the hunt as an exclusive pursuit in early-modern European culture, and to emphasize the use of hunting imagery as a conscious tool for fashioning one’s self-identity.

Sponsored by the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston with additional support from Jon Rex Jones in memory of A.V. Jones Jr., and Nancy & Joe Foran in honor of Doris Miller and Don Fitzgibbons.

JAN FYT, Hounds Resting from the Chase, c. 1650–55, Oil on canvas, 49 x 74 in.

Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston. 1974.1

Exhibition: “Wilderness” by Texas Sculptor Allison Evonne Streett 

Dates: September 2 - 20, 2024 
Location: Ira M. Taylor Gallery at the Frost Center for the Visual Arts,Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Texas 
Reception and Artist Talk: September 20, 2024, 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM 

Abilene, Texas – The Ira Taylor Gallery at Hardin-Simmons University is proud to present “Wilderness,” an evocative exhibition by renowned Texas sculptor Allison Streett. This exhibition will be on view from September 2 to September 20, 2024, culminating in a special reception and artist talk on September 20th from 5:45 PM to 7:00 PM, as part of the biennial Abilene Outdoor Exhibition and SculpTour. 

“Wilderness” explores the complex and often paradoxical nature of our world through a series of compelling sculptures. Inspired by the poignant words of her great-aunt, “This world is a wilderness,” Streett delves into themes of beauty, suffering, temptation, and hope. Her work features relief sculptures of poisonous plants, symbolizing the fine line between life and death, and figures and portraits that narrate the human experience in a world that is both broken and beautiful. 

Streett’s sculptures are deeply rooted in Christian theology, reflecting the tension between the freedom from sin and the ongoing struggle within a world that is not yet fully renewed. Her art captures the essence of living in a wilderness that is filled with glimpses of promised restoration, life, and beauty amidst chaos and danger. 

About the Artist: Allison Streett creates expressive, narrative sculptures in clay to be cast in bronze. Through the language of the human form, she tells stories of human suffering and hope, alienation and connection, doubt and faith—the broken beauty of the human experience. Her work often focuses on the feminine and maternal perspective of war, displacement, discrimination, and prejudice. In addition to commissioned portraits, her recent work includes a series of self-portrait masks exploring the challenges of motherhood and personal identity. 

Allison has worked in the tradition of figurative sculpture for over two decades. Specializing in portraits and figures cast in bronze, she has received local and national recognition in many group exhibitions and competitions. Among her recent awards, in 2023 her portrait entitled Introspect won the Gloria Spevacek Award at the 126th Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Open Exhibition in New York City, and Becoming won second place in the National Sculpture Society Texas and Oklahoma Exhibition. In 2022, How the Light Gets In was awarded the Harriet W. Frishmuth Memorial Award for Bronze Sculpture at the 125th Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Open Exhibition. Her sculptures were featured in the Annual National Sculpture Society Awards Exhibitions in 2023 and 2021, Emerging Stars in American Sculpture hosted by the National Sculpture Society at Brookgreen Gardens, and the Portrait Society of America’s Tri-State Competition in 2019. 

Currently based outside of Fort Worth, Texas, Allison is the daughter of a poet, the mother of six fascinating children, and the wife of a Biblical scholar. In addition to sculpting and home-educating her children, she enjoys being outside and reading poetry, literature, theology, and philosophy, from which many of her artistic inspirations spring. 

Regular Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM 
 

Contact Information:  

Ira M. Taylor Memorial Gallery at Frost Center for the Visual Arts 
Hardin-Simmons University 
2341 Cedar Street, Abilene, TX 79698 
Phone: (325) 670-1941 
Email: art@hsutx.edu