USU Eastern Press Release
The son of renowned sculptor and long-time art instructor at College of Eastern Utah, James L. Young, returns to Price for a month-long ceramic and sculpture exhibit in Utah State University’s Gallery East from Feb. 11-March 8.
Todd Young grew up in Price and studied under his father, James. After graduation from CEU, he attended Brigham Young University, majoring in industrial arts. While at the Y, he worked at Wasatch Bronze foundry in Lehi and decided to become an art educator like his father.
He transferred to USU, where he received his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree, and started teaching art at Northridge High School and moved to the new Syracuse High School, where he also teaches art.
“The nature of my art experience started at a very young age,” Young said. “I was blessed to have been mentored by my father for 44 wonderful years. It was over that period of time that I was able to develop an art experience of collaboration and self-discovery.
“In one sense the last 10 years, my artwork has been a very personal journey in search of order, minimalism, form and texture. In another sense, it has become a very public act in the attempt to express and share, with others my realization and discoveries.”
“In my view, each ceramic vessel and sculptural form represents a unique social and spiritual connection and an association to all people,” Young explains. “It is my hope that each piece, whether it is a ceramic vessel or a sculptural form, creates a timelessness and universal connection to the very sense of humanity.”
In addition to Young’s ceramics and sculptural pieces, the gallery features a traveling exhibit of paper collage, sponsored by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums (UDAM). The exhibit, titled “Arrangements, A Survey of Utah Collage,” combines collage works from the state of Utah’s Fine Art Collection as well as artwork from some of Utah’s finest collage and mixed media artists. Collage, assemblage, photomontage and mixed media artists in Utah have a long and rich history of practice in the state.
The exhibit includes artworks by Trent Thursby Alvey, Erin Barrett, Gary Barton, Ed Bateman, Namon Bills, Liberty Blake, Noel Carmack, Jane Christensen, Wayne Chubin, Deborah Durban, Maury Haseltine, Jim Jacobs, Jason Lanegan, Bill Lee, Dennis Martinez, Dottie Miles, Jenny Ostraff, Bruce Robertson, Chauncey Secrist and Sam Wilson.
A statement by the UDAM read, “We wanted to bring together the work of modern-day professionals and earlier practitioners of various forms of collage together in an exhibition we could share with people across the state. We hope that this assortment of works will inspire viewers to consider creating collage of their own, to explore their worlds and to think about the everyday materials around them that could be incorporated into their art-making.”
Located in the Central Instruction Building, Gallery East is free and open to the public during the academic year from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed weekends and holidays. The artist’s reception is Friday, Feb. 22, from 6-8 p.m.
For more information, contact Noel Carmack at (435) 613-5241 or email noel.carmack@usu.edu.
