AMES, IOWA — SEPTEMBER 28, 2023 — Contemporary artist April Surgent will give a free public lecture at the Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums affiliate at Iowa State University (ISU), located on the second floor of the Scheman Building, 1805 Center Drive, Ames, IA, on Thursday, October 12, 2023 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Surgent will discuss the inspiration behind her new commission for University Museums permanent collection, her unique expression of environmental change through cameo engraved glass, and experiences participating in several prestigious research fellowships. Outliving Glaciers, now in the University Museums' permanent collection, is Surgent's newest and largest to-date commission. The artist talk is in conjunction with the exhibition Future Unfolding at the Brunnier Art Museum open now through December 17, 2023.

Surgent was a recipient of the National Science Foundation Antarctic Writers and Artists Program in 2013, was the first artist in residence with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program, and assisted with a 2019 United States Geological Survey (USGS) led research study in Alaska. These research trips have yielded a range of imagery that she later records on glass when she returns to her studio. Surgent uses her cameo engravings to document the world as it is in this moment, as the loss of natural habitats and environmental impacts due to climate change escalates.

In her artist statement about Outliving Glaciers, Surgent says:

In 2019, I visited Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound, Southeast Alaska with a USGS research team. It is one of the most rapidly changing and fastest moving glaciers in the world. Since the 1980’s, Columbia glacier has retreated 12 miles and has lost more than half of its total volume. Today, the channel leading up to the terminus is a 300-meter-deep fjord, surrounded by a barren landscape, scraped and utterly shredded from the drag of the moving glacier... This engraving is simultaneously a record of what was and what is.

Outliving Glaciers was commissioned for the University Museums permanent collection as a gift from Jason D. Kogan in memory of his wife Lori A. Jacobson (1958-2018), ISU alumna (B.S. History ‘80, B.A. Advertising Design ‘80). For nearly four decades, Jacobson made professional and personal contributions to enhance the University Museums, including project management of the landmark Campus Beautiful publication, strategic planning for the Christian Petersen Art Museum in Morrill Hall, conducting student engagement research, creating the WOW Wall in the Office of Admission’s Soults Family Visitor Center, Memorial Union, and establishing a student mentorship program at the University Museums. “Once I learned about and was hired as a part-time student employee by Iowa State’s University Museums at the end of my second year, I was smitten by the museum world in a way that changed my life,” the late Jacobson said when she was posing for her portrait in 2017 as part of the Faces of Iowa State series by artist Rose Frantzen.

Jacobson, through her estate, established the Lynette Pohlman Student Mentoring Scholarship Fund, which supports the Lynette Pohlman Museum Fellowship. The goal of the Fund is to provide a one-on-one mentoring experience at the University Museums for selected undergraduates to enable them to develop the knowledge and training required for continued education, and to secure a career, in the flourishing museum field.

When Jacobson died in 2018, Kogan wanted to honor his late wife and reflect who she was at Iowa State. He made a significant gift to the Brunnier Art Museum renovation and the new entrance gallery was named after Jacobson. Kogan also established the Lori A. Jacobson Art Acquisition Fund through his estate to continue celebrating her impact at University Museums and in the museum field.

“Outliving Glaciers is a fitting representation of Lori, of what was and what is,” says University Museums director and chief curator Lynette Pohlman. “She made a deep impact from her college internship years through her professional career, and her significance is still felt though she is gone.”

Surgent will elaborate more on the commission, cameo engraving, and her research during her Artist Lecture at the Brunnier Art Museum on Thursday, October 12, 2023 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Kogan will also be present at the talk and will be honored for his ongoing contribution to the University Museums and expanding the permanent collection. While on campus, Surgent will provide specialized tours to philosophy, meteorology, geology, and agriculture classes. When University Museums has the opportunity to host artists on campus, there is always a focus on engaging with curriculum being taught throughout the colleges. University Museums staff work to bring students and faculty together with artists, who give great insight on how their art can connect deeply to their fields of study through visual literacy learning.

Future Unfolding is open to the public through Sunday, December 17, 2023. Admission to the Brunnier Art Museum is free, and open hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays and university holidays, but Iowa State curriculum tours may be scheduled Mondays with two weeks’ notice.

This exhibition is curated and organized by the artist, April Surgent, and University Museums with Traver Gallery. Generous support for the exhibition was given by Marcia and Jim Borel; Carol Gee; Lucinda and Dirk Scholten; Phyllis and Larry Lepke; and University Museums Membership. The new commission, Outliving Glaciers, is a gift in memory of Lori A. Jacobson from Jason D. Kogan.

April Surgent started working with glass in 1997 at open access hot shop (glass) studios in her hometown of Seattle, WA. She went on to study at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia where she graduated with honors in 2004. In 2003, she changed her focus from blown to engraved glass after studying under Czech master engraver, Jiří Harcuba. Surgent exhibits, teaches and lectures internationally and has received many accolades for her work, including the Neddy Fellowship through the Behnke Foundation and a 2016 USA Ford Fellowship.

Interested in marine ecology, she uses experiences of working with conservation research scientists to inform her work aimed at cultivating public awareness about climate change and anthropogenic impact on the environment. In 2013, she worked at Palmer Station as a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artist and Writers Program and in 2016 as a volunteer field biologist for the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program. Most recently, Surgent worked on site at the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, 30 miles west of San Francisco with Point Blue Conservation and in SW Alaska with the US Geological Survey. Surgent lives and works on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.

April Surgent has works of art in the permanent collections of museums around the world including: Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY; Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, VA; Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, OH; Wichita Art Museum in Wichita, KS; Ulster Museum in Belfast, Ireland; and Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums affiliate at Iowa State University in Ames, IA.

aprilsurgent.com

Exhibition Programs

Find full descriptions of programs on the University Museums Calendar. All programs are free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Click the event title for more information and/or to register. Events listed below will be at the Brunnier Art Museum (1805 Center Dr., 295 Scheman Building, Ames, Iowa) unless otherwise noted. Programs are subject to change. Check the University Museums Calendar and Facebook page for the latest events information.

Artist Lecture | April Surgent: Exploring Climate Change in Glass

Thursday, October 12, 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

April Surgent will discuss the inspiration behind her new commission for University Museums permanent collection, her unique expression of environmental change through cameo engraved glass, and experiences participating in several prestigious research fellowships.

Glaciers in a Warming World: Examples from Today and Iowa's Glacial Past

Sunday, November 5, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Glaciers and ice sheets respond to climate warming in ways that are both predictable and surprising. Their shrinkage over the next century will affect hundreds of millions of people. Lecture with Dr. Neal Iverson, Professor, Geological and Atmospheric Sciences.

The Brunnier Art Museum is the only accredited museum emphasizing a decorative arts collection in the state of Iowa and one of the nation's few museums located within a performing arts and conference complex (Iowa State Center). Founded in 1975, the museum is named after its benefactors, Henry J. Brunnier and his wife Ann. The Brunnier Collection includes ceramics, glass, dolls, ivory, jade, and enameled metals.

Museum Hours

Tuesday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Saturday & Sunday, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Closed to the public Monday. ISU curriculum tours may be scheduled on Monday with a 2-week notice.

Closed University Holidays.

Admission is free. Donations are welcome.

museums.iastate.edu

University Museums is a distinctive organization that encompasses two art museums, a National Historic Landmark historic home museum, a sculpture garden, and one of the largest campus public art collections in the nation. University Museums brings world-class exhibitions with educational programming to Iowa State University, actively acquires works of art to add to the more than 30,000 permanent collection objects, conserves and preserves collections, conducts and publishes curatorial scholarship, and fosters student engagement.

museums.iastate.edu

To schedule interviews, photograph events, or request high-resolution images, please contact Alisha Abner at 515.294.3342 or aabner@iastate.edu. 

Header: Detail of Outliving Glaciers, 2023 by April Surgent. Cameo engraved glass. Commissioned by University Museums. Gift in memory of Lori A. Jacobson from Jason D. Kogan. In the permanent collection, Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. UM2023.199

Photo of April Surgent, courtesy of the artist.

Outliving Glaciers, 2023 by April Surgent. Cameo engraved glass. Commissioned by University Museums. Gift in memory of Lori A. Jacobson from Jason D. Kogan. In the permanent collection, Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. UM2023.199

Lori Jacobson, 2017 by Rose Frantzen. Oil on board. Commissioned by University Museums. Sponsored by the University Museums. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. U2017.118

Photo of Lori Jacobson with Lynette Pohlman next to Do You Know What's Inside This Flower? George Washington Carver Mentors a Young Henry A. Wallace, 2015 by Rose Frantzen.

Photo of Lori Jacobson with Jason Kogan, courtesy of Jason Kogan.

Photo of April Surgent, courtesy of the artist.