Professor Carolyn Ford Piles Up
Exhibitions And Accolades
It is typically athletes, not artists, who are praised for their endurance, but Limestone University Professor of Art Carolyn Ford is still pushing through an artistic marathon that has spanned more than a year and reaches from coast-to-coast.
Overall, Ford’s work has been showcased in more than 17 exhibitions since the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year.
One of those was “Tangled Roots: Exploring Appalachian Feminisms,” which took place in the spring of 2022 in Lexington, KY. The exhibition explored the history of creative practices that have long been passed down by Appalachian women, but also looked at how those practices have changed and now reflect a more contemporary Appalachia.
Born in Tennessee, Ford drew from what she had seen and learned to craft ceramic plates displaying Southern women at work, usually household chores, in a sgraffito design. She also made sure to expand what people consider “women’s work” by including pieces with Volunteer State legends Dolly Parton and June Carter performing on stage.
Ford’s work also maintains a home at the Asheville Museum of Art. Three ceramic plates from her “Southernisms” series are currently in an ongoing special exhibition, “Intersection in American Art,” a reinstallation of the museum’s collection.
Just a couple of hours away via Interstate 40 in Salisbury, NC, she is also featured in “ART for ALL – I AM: Identity. Stories. Connection.” The special juried exhibition features 150 works from 55 artists, mostly new, upcoming or established artists from the Carolinas telling their personal and cultural stories. It will remain at the Waterworks Visual Arts Center until January 27, 2023.
The preparation for this marathon came when Ford took a sabbatical from January to May 2020. During that time, Ford completed an artist-in-residency with Mission Clay Art + Industry at Missions Building Products in Phoenix.
|