The Division of Art+Design will host “A Sense of Design,” an exhibition of art pieces by Dave Appleman, a retired Bob Jones University art faculty member, in the Sargent Art Building from Nov. 8 to Dec. 2.
Jay Bopp, chair of the Division of Art+Design, said the division typically tries to bring in the works of retired professors at least once a year for a legacy series. Jared Stanley, a member of the Art+Design faculty and exhibition coordinator, said the Legacy Series allows former members of BJU’s Art+Design faculty to show their work in a place that means something to them.
Appleman taught in the BJU Division of Art+Design for 42 years, starting in 1968. For 13 of those years, he served as division chair. According to Bopp, Appleman prefers to think of himself as a designer rather than an artist.
“[Appleman’s] work is much more shapes, forms and colors, as opposed to pictures,” Bopp said. “Appleman has designed a wide range of sculptures and jewelry. While he has created two-dimensional art, his two-dimensional art tends to focus more on form and design than creating a picture.”
According to Bopp, the exhibition will feature stylized acrylic and polymer paintings of plant forms, sterling jewelry with semiprecious stones, collagraphic prints and stone sculptures, all falling under the subject of purposeful design. Appleman is a member of the Carolina Geological Society and collects most of the stones he uses for jewelry and sculptures himself.
Bopp explained some of the reasoning and goals behind legacy exhibitions like this. “We would love for our Art+Design students to encounter very well-crafted, well-executed, composed artwork,” he said. “We want to introduce [students] to the people who taught us so that they can see what their connection is through their teachers with those older teachers who were our professors.”
Stanley shared a similar sentiment. “I thought, ‘How can we get our students to both see and understand the rich heritage that is here and also be able to learn from it?’” His answer to this question was the Legacy Series. Bopp said the Division of Art+Design seeks to present exhibitions of quality artwork that can be appreciated by all BJU students, regardless of major.
Stanley explained that exhibitions like this also help BJU reach out into the greater Greenville community. “[The Legacy Series] lets people see what a rich heritage we’ve had here and continued to have here through the expertise that our faculty have,” Stanley said.
