mid-South Sculpture Alliance


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Mid-South Sculpture Alliance is an affiliate organization of the International Sculpture Center (ISC). Its membership is open to anyone, anywhere with an interest in and commitment to the field of sculpture - including sculptors, art educators, patrons, collectors, galleries, suppliers, architects, developers, journalists, critics, historians, curators and museums.

Mission Statement

The Mid-South Sculpture Alliance advances the creation and awareness of sculpture in its many and varied forms, promoting a supportive environment for sculpture and sculptors. 

The Mid-South Sculpture Alliance seeks to advance the understanding that sculpture educates; effects social change; and engages artists, art professionals, and the community in dialogue.


Discrimination and Harassment Statement

Mid-South Sculpture Alliance does not discriminate against any individual or group of individuals on the basis of age, color, disablility, gender, national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, veteran's status, or sex.



MSA Board Members

MSA accepts Board of Directors nominations on a rolling basis. Nominees are held on file for 3 years.

If you or someone you know would be a good fit for the MSA BOD, please fill out a nomination form here.


Development Committee Chair

Artist, Sculptor, and Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Auburn University


Artist, Sculptor, and Assistant Professor of Studio Art at University of  South Carolina


Indoor Committee Chair

Independent Curator, Collections Manager and Artist


Professor of Art, SculptureChair/Department of Art & Design
The University of Central Arkansas



Leticia Bajuyo
MSA Vice President

Nominations Committee Chair
Confab Committee Chair

Artist, Sculptor, and Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the University of Oklahoma


Social Media Committee Chair

Interdisciplinary Artist and Adjunct Professor


2015 RISD alumni, Associate Professor of Sculpture at the IUPUI Herron School of Art.


Artist and Manefestrix

@terracurio


Christyn Overstake
MSA Treasurer

DEI Committee Chair

Artist, Sculptor, and Assistant Professor of Art at East Central University in Oklahoma 



Bylaw Committee Chair

Artist, Sculptor, and Professor 



Director, School of Art and School for American Crafts
Professor of Sculpture, RIT


Ex Officio Board Member

Professor of Art Chattanooga State Community College


Stacey Holloway
MSA Secretary

Conference Committee Chair

Artist, Sculptor, and Associate Professor of Sculpture at University of Alabama Birmingham


Outdoor Committee Chair

Arts & Culture Program Manager
Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.


Artist, Educator, and Associate Professor, Department of Art and Design, MTSU

Emerging Board Members



Artist, Sculptor, and Instructor of Sculpture at Delta State University


Online Panel Committee Chair

Artist, Sculptor, and Assistant Professor of Art + Studio Manager at Tulsa Community College


MSA STAFF


MSA Administrative Assistant
Artist and Sculptor

PAST BOARD MEMBERS


Maria Sarmiento


Jason Brown


Ayokunle Odeleye


Roger Halligan


Joey Manson

Edward Victor


Isaac Duncan


David Landis


George Beasley


Karlota Contreras-Koterbay


Ericka Strecker


Garry Bibbs


Bret Davis


Larry Millard


Nichole Schiller

HISTORY

The Mid-South Sculpture Alliance (MSA) began in 2006 as the dream of two sculptors: John Henry and Verina Baxter and has developed into an innovative community of regional, emerging, mid-range, and established artists. The founders’ vision was to invigorate the culture for sculpture and sculptors within their community through a membership-driven arts organization.

In its infancy, MSA focused on exhibition, education, and networking opportunities hosted by partners throughout the Mid-South region. Today, MSA advances the creation and awareness of sculpture in its many and varied forms, provides accessibility and platforms for 3D art practitioners, and promotes diverse, inclusive, and supportive environments for sculpture and sculptors.

What began as a small, regional organization has grown to include members and partners throughout the United States and territories. Inspired by the growth in membership and led by our diverse board of directors, MSA focuses ongoing programming to make sculpture accessible, inclusive, and transformational.

The goals are essentially to connect communities in an underserved, overlooked region directly to the possibilities and opportunities of contemporary sculpture. Since its inception in 2006, MSA has broadened its reach to include not only sculptors but also educators, curators, architects, art lovers, universities, museums, galleries, and both public and private institutions working in and with sculpture. MSA has initiated public art competitions, conferences, confabs, symposiums, workshops, and exhibitions in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Cincinnati, Birmingham, Jacksonville, and Lexington, to name a few. These events highlighted a diverse range of sculptors and curators, providing visibility, accessibility, significant resources, and a network for practitioners. Venues include the Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga State Community College, University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky, the University of Cincinnati, and Riverwalk Chattanooga. Various partnerships include Midtown Partners, LexArts, Public Art Chattanooga, City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, and more.

MSA progresses in its long-term goal to be a leader in the presentation of dynamic exhibitions and events that are aesthetically strong and intellectually challenging, with a particular interest in contemporary, technological, and cultural issues that engage the community. MSA welcomes professional sculptors, artists, curators, educators, students, and all art lovers at any stage of their career to join the membership and participate in these exhibitions and events.

MSA funds and promotes scholarship competitions in addition to mentoring opportunities that are designed to inspire, acknowledge, and support future sculptors. The MSA Scholarship for Outstanding Students is one of MSA’s most significant programs. Begun in 2016, the scholarship competition has since awarded thirty-five cash awards to students seeking degrees in sculpture. The funds received are coupled with speaking, exhibition, and mentoring opportunities that propel artistic production and public engagement as well as engage scholarship winners in dialogue, collaboration, and intellectual exchange with a professional network.

To build upon this effort of supporting sculptors throughout their careers, MSA recently initiated the Vision 2020 grant. The pilot Vision 2020 awarded three mid-career, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) sculptors with unfettered access to funding for artists to use toward the production of new work. The fellows were invited to exhibit and/or present at the fall 2021 Conference in Cincinatti, furthering their opportunities to engage in critical dialogue, collaboration, and intellectual exchange with their peers in the field of sculpture as well as public engagement with their work. This is also part of the continuing effort to address ‘omissions and under representation’ of people of color and marginalized communities by providing platforms for collaboration and self-representation.

To further efforts to make sculpture accessible in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, MSA launched the MSA Online Panel Discussion Series aired on Facebook Live and archived on MSA’s YouTube channel. Panels have covered an array of topics including Tearing Down Monuments, WISE during the Year of Suffrage, and The Online Sculpture Classroom. Panelists and moderators have included professional artists, educators, arts professionals, and MSA members. Each discussion has included a Q&A segment allowing the public to engage experts and thought leaders regardless of their physical location.

Conferences and Confabs brought many of the nation’s foremost experts and talents in the field of sculpture to speak to members and the public in each host location. Conferences generally last three to four days and include multiple speakers, panel discussions, workshops, and exhibitions which foster artistic production, learning, and public engagement. Confabs are shorter, one- or two-day events built on the idea of a fireside chat and highlighting a specific theme during which presenters and attendees have the opportunity to listen, learn, and get to know each other. Aurora Robson, a recent Confab artist, delved into ideas of waste and green practices in relationship to sculpture. Last year’s BIPOC speaker, Anila Quayyum, discussed the intersectionality of art, identity, and gender/culture politics.

This year’s MSA Confab 2023 key speaker is Anna Tsouhlarakis, whose practice “dismantles stereotypes surrounding Native American culture through installation, video and performance.” Organized by MSA vice-president, Leticia Bajuyo, the MSA Confab 2023 will be held at the School of Visual Arts in University of Oklahoma on October 6-7, 2023 in Norman, Oklahoma.

MSA’s Exhibition Programming collaborates widely with well-known/established, and emerging, students and mid-career artists, curators, and institutions for all its exhibitions. Outdoor and indoor exhibitions in Chattanooga and Knoxville in Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; Lexington, Kentucky; and at the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton, Ohio have all increased public engagement through free exhibitions, artist talks, and tours. These events generate dialogue and bring artists and community members together to be inspired by and learn from each other.

Recent partnerships with non-profit organizations and academic galleries have enabled MSA to organize several juried and curated exhibitions that address issues in contemporary sculpture, the politics of the ‘body,’ marginalized presence, and inter- connectivity.  For example, MSA board of directors continue to initiate new programming in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in its desire to create and participate in exhibitions and workshops led by experts in the field and the arts to have proper training in DEI to effectively continue our work advocating and advancing all sculptors. MSA funded and partnered with StoveWorks, a non- profit art organization and exhibition venue in awarding its first annual BIPOC Artist Residency program.

MSA is a small organization with a working board of directors, committee members, an Ex-Officio member, and one part-time administrative assistant employee.


Call: +803-956-9876

Email: admin@midsouthsculpture.org

Address:
PO Box 333101
Murfreesboro, TN 37133

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