Mekenna Cipres of Murietta, Calif., Helps Curate Successful Art Exhibition at Brenau University

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Mekenna Cipres had a busy fall at Brenau University: captaining the Golden Tigers to their first NAIA regional conference berth and curating a major art exhibit.

GAINESVILLE, GA (11/07/2012)(readMedia)-- Brenau University studio art major Mekenna Marie Cipres from Murrieta, Calif., recently completed an internship that enabled her to work on virtually every detail of planning and executing a successful gallery exhibition of the works of legendary artist, activist and Hollywood caricaturist Lenn Redman.

Cipres, a studio art with a concentration in museum studies, worked with Mark Redman to inventory the collection of art and other materials from the career of his late father, Lenn Redman. During his 50+-year career Redman created hundreds of thousands of caricatures for celebrities and others, promoted his caricature performances on television and radio, and contributed to the creation of numerous animation features of the 1960s and '70s.

Her partner on the project was Amanda Summer Wilson from Newnan, Ga. The two helped Mark Redman analyze and catalog boxes and boxes of materials from his father's career, which jumped genres from cartoons to more traditional paintings, and pick pieces for the first public showing of the work at Brenau. The show, which closed Oct. 28 after a successful run which brought several hundred visitors to the Brenau's Leo Castelli Gallery, was one of the featured exhibitions that occur each year in the three galleries on the Gainesville, Ga., campus.

"It is not overstating the case that these students were instrumental in helping to 'rescue' a remarkable collection that basically was 'lost' in mountains of materials in storage boxes," said Brenau Galleries Director Melissa Morgan, "And, it is not every day that a young person in a pre-professional internship has the opportunity to bring forth from such boxes an exhibition that illustrates the depth and breadth of a working artist's career."

Brenau Art Department Chair Mary Beth Looney agreed. "Although while student interns often perform internships at major museums through which they gain specialized experience in a singular area of museum work, these two have engaged in the full range of experience, from inventorying, condition reports, curating, exhibition design, installation and the creation and usage of education materials and activities," she said. "They have seen an exhibition through from the idea stage to full realization. That's what I call significant preparation."

Rosemary Dodd, a Gainesville, Ga., artist and the widow of "Mark Trail" newspaper comic series author/illustrator Ed Dodd, suggested that Mark Redman, a resident of nearby Oakwood, Ga., enlist the support of the Brenau art department and Brenau Galleries personnel in figuring out what to do with his father's work. The university, which is an academic partner of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, possesses one of the most impressive permanent collections of art for an educational institution of its size. Its academic programs not only emphasize art creation, but art preservation and presentation.

Cipres, the daughter of Mark and Dena Cipres of Murrieta, graduated from Calvary Chapel Christian School. In addition to her extracurricular work on the art exhibition, she is also the captain of the Brenau Golden Tigers volleyball team, which for the first time this fall earned a playoff berth in the highly competitive Southern States Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In addition, she serves as intellectual development for Alpha Chi Omega sorority.

ABOUT BRENAU – Founded in 1878, Brenau University currently enrolls about 2,800 students in graduate and undergraduate programs on campuses and online. With a curriculum that blends professional preparation informed by the liberal arts, Brenau degree tracks range from Associate of Arts, which includes a special "early college" program for exceptional high school-age students to terminal degrees, including a Master of Fine Arts in Interior design and a Doctor of Nursing Practice. The main campus of the Georgia-based liberal arts institution, which includes the Brenau Women's College, is in Gainesville with other campuses in Augusta, Kings Bay and in two metro Atlanta locations, Norcross and Fairburn. Brenau's 2013 ranking as one of the top 15-best higher education values in the Southeast by U.S. News & World Report marks the university's eighth consecutive year in that position for the magazine's America's Best Colleges guidebook. In 2012 Brenau online programs scored high in national rankings by U.S. News & World Report, including a No. 9 in the nation "Honor Roll" listing for graduate degree tracks in Brenau's College of Education. Brenau University also has been cited as one of the best universities in the Southeast by The Princeton Review. The Chronicle of Higher Education accorded Brenau "honor roll" status as one of the top 10 best colleges and universities to work in its 2011-12 survey rankings.