Artist, professor to speak at spring colloquium
FOR RELEASE: Sunday, April 19, 2009
Huntington, Ind.-Huntington University's RichLyn Library will host Rebecca Coffman, professor of art, for the spring "Focus on Excellence" colloquium. The event will be held at 7:30 p.m. on April 28 in the Johnson Conference Room of the library. Coffman's presentation, "Il Bottega di Italia (The Italian Workshop)," will discuss the experience of her summer in the heart of Tuscany, Italy, at the La Meridiana art studio. A question-and-answer session will follow her lecture.
Admission is free, and parking is available in the lot adjacent to the library. Light refreshments will be served.
Rebecca Coffman transferred from Dallas Baptist College to Hardin-Simmons University in 1982 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (in ceramics and painting) in 1985. Following a year working as a production potter at McQueeny Pottery near San Antonio, she entered Texas Tech University and received a Master of Fine Arts degree (in ceramics and art history) in 1989.
While applying for a teaching position, she taught as adjunct faculty for McMurry University and Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. A one-year position for the ceramics professor on sabbatical took her to Houghton College in Houghton, N.Y.
In 1993, she accepted a full-time tenure-track position in the Department of Visual Arts at Huntington University in Huntington, Ind. Being the second art professor has given her the opportunity to teach a variety of art subjects. She also has led art history tours to Italy, France and Spain. In 2000, she enjoyed a sabbatical as the artist-in-residence at the University of Delaware. The body of ceramic work that she produced in Delaware is the subject of an article in the May 2003 issue of Ceramics Monthly. In the summer of 2007, she spent a month working at La Meridiana Ceramic Studio near Certaldo, Italy, and traveling throughout Italy.
Coffman currently serves as professor of art at Huntington University, teaching ceramics, sculpture, 2-D design, 3-D design, art appreciation and art history. She also serves as director of the Robert E. Wilson Art Gallery.
Her first love always has been ceramics, and she continues to produce and show her work in galleries around the country.
Robert Kaehr, director of library services, began the "Focus on Excellence" colloquiums in 1998. Presenters have included everyone from authors to a Civil War reenactment/singing group. For more information about the colloquiums, contact Kaehr at (260) 359-4063.
