28 / ’southern
FEATURES
TheDurbinGallery
Since 1965, theDurbinGallery, housed in theKennedyArt Center/Azar StudiosComplexon campus, has
organizednearly300 traveling, faculty, and student exhibitionswith related lectures and forums. Gallery
exhibitions are free andopen to thepublic during exhibitionhours:Monday through Friday from8:30 a.m. to
4:45p.m. Formore information, call (205) 226-4928.
An alumni exhibitionhonoringBSCEmeritus Professor of Art Robert “Bob” Tuckerwill be shownNov. 7-25 in
the gallery. Tuckermentored thousands of students, artmajors, andnon-artmajors alikeduringhis career. A few
of themwere sodirectly influencedbyhis imagery that it became apart of the vernacular in their ownwork. The
exhibitionwill be curatedbyAllenPeterson ’94 (see above).
ForgingConnections
ALLEN PETERSON ’94
j
Formany years,
AllenPeterson
has blendedhis artistic talentswith a
passion for exploring themes of system
and community inhiswork.
“As I plan and create eachworkof
art, creating systems formyself and
workingwith the communitieswhere
the artwill go is important tome,”
he explains. “I often reference the
interconnectedness of communities
throughmy compositions, wheremany
elements combine tomake something
larger than the sumof their parts.”
Last year, BeltLineAtlanta
commissionedPeterson to create
Phoenix: Atlanta’s Railroad Rebirth
, shown
here. The eight-foot sculpture,madeof
over 1,000 railroad spikes, stands on a
graniteplinth, welcoming thosewho
enter theBeltLine trails—anew22-mile
loop linking theneighborhoods around
downtownAtlanta.
Peterson says hediscovered at an
early agehis love formaking things
andhis fascinationwithfire. He grew
up in various towns inNorthAlabama
andmoved toBirmingham in1990 to
attendBSC.
“I learned somuch from the art and
art historyprofessors at ’Southern that I
still hear their voices inmyhead,” says
Peterson, who received aBFA in studio
art. “Mypainting skills developed
under SteveCole’s guidance, but I found
myselfmigrating further and further
toward sculpture.”
After BSC, Peterson spent three years
as an artist-in residence at Birmingham’s
Sloss Furnaces. He left Sloss to get his
master’s degree in sculpture from the
UniversityofMinnesota. After teaching
at several colleges anduniversities, he
acceptedhis current position at the
SavannahCollegeof Art andDesign in
Atlanta.
“I teachmany aspects ofmaking
sculpture, including castmetal and
metal fabrication (welding),”he says.
“I producemyown sculptures,
drawings, prints, andother artwork
frommybackyard studio.”
Hisworkhas been shown throughout
theU.S. aswell as internationally. It
is also included in thepermanent
collectionof lateBirmingham civil
rights pioneer Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.
Peterson
Phoenix
by Allen Peterson
)
Interior shot of theDurbinGallery
