Art gallery to feature exhibit by Morningside faculty

Collaborative artwork by John Bowitz and Shannon Sargent, professors at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, will be on display Jan. 10–25 in Northwestern College’s Te Paske Gallery. An opening reception with the artists is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m.

The exhibition features pieces on which Bowitz and Sargent shared ideas and worked together. Bowitz calls it the record of a visual conversation between two artists.

Created in a variety of media, the works are as large as eight feet by 16 feet. Acrylic paint, acrylic plastic, collage, stoneware and earthenware clay, furniture, wood, paper, canvas, and a variety of drawing media are used in the pieces. Most are constructed from many smaller segments that comprise a much larger unit. Often they involve writing and images designed to entertain and perplex.

Bowitz, a member of Morningside’s faculty since 1977, is serving as the art department’s chair. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and has served as an artist-in-residence at the University of Notre Dame, Port Orford Cultural Center, and Sioux City Art Center. His art has won 24 awards in juried shows, and in 1998, he was presented with the Outstanding Teacher Distinguished Service Award by the Art Educators of Iowa.

Sargent is the registrar/preparator for the Sioux City Art Center in addition to his role as an adjunct art professor at both Morningside and Northwestern. He has served as a juror for various exhibitions, an artist-in-residence, and a visiting artist. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of South Dakota. His artwork is part of collections in five states and has been featured at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, S.D.; the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D.; and other exhibitions throughout the Midwest.