Media Release
The MTSU Department of Art and Design is pleased to announce an exhibition of selected works by celebrated former professor emeritus James S. Gibson. Entitled James Gibson: A Life in Sculpture, A Retrospective. The exhibit is a decade-by-decade Memoriam of his lifetime's work. Scheduled March 14 – April 2, 2022, in the Todd Art Gallery, the exhibition is an homage to the artist's ingenuity, humility, and national renown. Further, it offers viewers the opportunity to purchase Gibson's work while also supporting students with financial aid afforded them through the department's James S. Gibson Scholarship in sculpture.
Gibson was originally from Charleston, West Virginia, and earned two bachelor's degrees from the University of Charleston. He followed those achievements with a Master's of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in sculpture from Ohio University. Gibson’s artwork has a lasting legacy on MTSU’s campus. He created a sculpture entitled “Rite of Passage” for MTSU’s Diamond Anniversary which was dedicated on November 25, 1986. The installation calls for reflection, celebration, and anticipation—three key components of both that 75th celebration year and aspirations for students who walk past the sculpture every day.
Gibson taught at MTSU from 1970 to 1999, creating more than 500 pieces of artwork during his lifetime. As a retired sculpture professor, he once described his work,
“My interest in the human figure and mythology affected my continued development of a personal shape and color vocabulary. However, the key to the existence of aesthetic content is the uniqueness and idiosyncrasies that I demonstrated in selecting and using materials, art elements, and tools to formulate my ideas. My work is abstract and materialized in either welded metal or carved/constructed wood; often, the two are combined. So, it fluctuates from small-scale to 12 feet. My thoughts and the materials used determine the size of each piece.”
After Gibson retired from MTSU, the University of Charleston also further honored him with induction into its Alumni Gallery of Achievement in 2000.
Join us at 2 p.m., Saturday, March 19, 2022, for the exhibit's opening reception in Todd Art Gallery, followed at 3 p.m., by the Gibson Family's Retrospective Talk and Discussion featuring the work and achievements of the artist.