gary barton

BYU Art alumni Jane Christensen and Bryan Hutchison have been named by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums as visual arts fellows for 2020. As two of four Utah artists awarded this recognition, Christensen and Hutchison each received $5,000 to support their careers. “These fellowships are intensely competitive,” said Art Department Chair Gary Barton. “Jane and Bryan represent a long list of BYU alumni who have received this prestigious award over the years.” For Hutchison (BFA ’13), whose work spans various mediums and formats— including photography, installation, sculpture, sound and video — the fellowship feels like a stamp of approval. Read the full article by Abby Weidmer at art.byu.edu.

After years of helping students achieve their goals, Heelis looks forward to continuing her own education Department Secretary Sharon Heelis will retire this year after working for the Art Department for nearly 40 years — longer, if you count her time as a student employee. She remembers such momentous milestones as the first computer in the office (“My typewriter was the printer, so when I printed it sounded like a machine gun”), the first fax machine (“We stood and watched as the message printed out from a roll of paper”) and the first copy machine (“It gave us oily paper, it was expensive and the copies weren’t very good”). Fortunately, Heelis said, technology has come a long way since then. Heelis began her decades-long career in the department in December of 1979, after the Barbizon Manufacturing Company — where she had worked for several years before and after serving a mission in Chile for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — announced they were closing. She had been an on-again, off-again student for seven years as she worked and saved money to put herself through school, though she had not yet settled on a major. At first, Heelis worked part-time as a student secretary — typing, preparing syllabi and making copies for faculty with a mimeograph machine. Just six months later, Heelis applied for and was accepted to the full-time gallery secretary position, where she helped care for the university’s art collection prior to the opening of the Museum of Art (MOA) in 1993. The timing was fortunate for Heelis, whose father died suddenly one year into her new job. The oldest of six children, Heelis was able to support herself and ease the pressure on her mother, who was still caring for three children at their home in Payson. Read the full article by Abby Weidmer at art.byu.edu.

Students experienced art and nature while developing as artists in an accelerated and intensive summer program

The BYU Department of Design and the Department of Art have each renewed their department chairs for another term. Gary Barton continues on as the Department of Art chair as well as Eric Gillett as the Department of Design chair. Curt Holman, recently selected as the new Department of Dance chair, replaces Marilyn Berrett, effective June 1, 2017. Gillett, was appointed as chair of Department of Design in 2015 when the Department of Visual Arts split to become the Department of Art and the Department of Design. He graduated from BYU in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and completed an MFA in design from the University of Utah. Gillett is a professor of graphic design. Gillett’s work is regularly featured in national and international design publications including Communication Arts, Print, How, Eye, Creative Quarterly, Graphis, NY Art Director’s Club and The One Show. His commissioned work as a designer, art director and creative director has included commissions for many Fortune 500 companies. His research focus relates to design systems, branding and typography. Barton became the chair of the BYU Art Department in 2015 following the division of the Department of Visual Arts. Barton graduated from BYU in 1989 with a bachelor’s in printmaking and received his master’s degree from Ohio State University. Barton works primarily in two-dimensional media including painting, printmaking and mixed media. While at BYU, Barton has served as the 2-D studio area coordinator, associate chair of the Department of Visual Arts and has been the director or associate director of several study abroad programs. He has also served on the Gordon B. Hinckley Presidential Scholarship Committee, the London Center Study Abroad Committee and the University Rank and Status Council. Holman graduated from BYU in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and again in 1996 with a master’s degree in dance. Holman and his wife are former professional ballroom dance competitors, U.S. National Cabaret finalists and invited competitors at the British Championships in Blackpool, England and the World Championships in the Netherlands. In his 25 years at BYU Holman has served on numerous department, college and university committees, including Ballroom Area administrator, associate department chair and Ballroom Dance Company artistic director. Writer: Bailey Fruit