Noteworthy

Susan Bailey Leaves a Legacy

The late art history instructor Susan Bailey, who passed away in December 2019, provided for a generous contribution to the SFCC Library. Representative of her dedication to her students, the donation consists of 66 boxes with more than 1,000 volumes, books and manuscripts. Library staff are still processing the collection. Interestingly, two books by the artist and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti are included. Both have personal messages from the author to the instructor of an Italian course he was taking in San Francisco in the late 90s and one has one of his drawings. Both are now housed in the Library’s Rare Book Room. Also included are Italian phrase and textbooks and the manuscript of Susan’s master’s thesis from Mills College, Pienza : the concept of an ideal city of the Italian Renaissance. Books catalogued thus far are primarily high-quality art books with a focus on Renaissance art and architecture as well as books on women and art and books about the American Southwest.

Upon retiring as principal of Bailey International, a licensed customhouse broker, Susan moved to Santa Fe. She held two master’s degrees, specializing in Renaissance Art. She spent time researching archives in Florence, Italy, and studied at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She authored the groundbreaking “Botticelli’s Primavera: Patronage in Question.” Susan taught art history at Mills College and San Francisco State University, then at University of New Mexico and SFCC.  

SFCC Convocation Keynote by Gloria Ladson-Billings, Ph.D.

Last month, students, faculty, staff and community members participated in the college’s Convocation keynote speech by Gloria Ladson-Billings, Ph.D.A global thought-leader and renowned scholar in the field of education and equality within the education system, Dr. Ladson-Billings spoke about the pandemics we all are facing: COVID-19, racism or white supremacy, the looming economic crisis due to the coronavirus, and the coming climate catastrophe. In her remarks, “Educating Past Pandemics,” she spoke about lessons learned from history, academic achievement vs. student learning, cultural competence, the digital divide, and much more. She highlighted her talk with a dynamic presentation on hip-hop as a cultural influence. See her bio here.  

“Painterly Objects”

Santa Fe Community College’s Visual Arts Gallery  presents the virtual exhibition, “Painterly Objects,” featuring the work of SFCC Sculpture Program Head and Assistant Professor John Boyce.

While Boyce was working on his MFA at the Vermont College of Fine Art several years ago, American sculptor and visual artist Lynda Benglis suggested that he connect with Hank Sax and Cynthia Patterson at Sax Stone Carving in Taos. He went to their studio and created dozens of forms using their extruder. Pieces in this show have the original white and red glaze from his work there and required special mounting and post-firing additions; other work is glazed with a style that lifts from abstract expressionist painting or a form of Japanese ceramic decoration. Boyce has created emotive surfaces that are performative: they show a remnant of the action used in their creation. Many of the pieces use simple wooden elements to offset the emotive qualities of the ceramic forms, sometimes creating a juxtaposition of cool against hot, sometimes adding a complementary painterly form to complete the piece.

“Of the 21 pieces in the show, 11 were created during the reign of COVID: Newton invented calculus, I made art,” said Boyce.

The exhibit video was produced by SFCC alumna and the Film Program’s Equipment and Lab Technician Ashley Martinez. Access to the exhibition is available by appointment; please contact the artist at john.boyce@sfcc.edu. (For more information about the Visual Arts Gallery, please contact SFCC’s Director of Art on Campus and of the Visual Arts Gallery Linda Cassel at 505-428-1501 or linda.cassel@sfcc.edu. The exhibit continues through October 8.