SUNY Cortland B.F.A. Candidate Rebecca Jennison to Exhibit "A Child's Mind" at Beard Building Gallery

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A mixed-media work of art by Rebecca Jennison.

CORTLAND, NY (04/02/2009)(readMedia)-- "A Child's Mind," an art exhibition that comprises seven series of works in different mediums by Rebecca Jennison of Marathon, N.Y., begins on Monday, April 6, in the Beard Building Gallery at Main Street SUNY Cortland, 9 Main St.

The display, which represents the Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) thesis work of this local artist and SUNY Cortland student, runs through Saturday, May 9. The first floor gallery space is open weekdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

An opening reception for Jennison's first solo show will take place from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, April 10. She will present an artist's talk at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 24, at the gallery. The exhibition, opening reception and gallery talk are free and open to the public. The artist encourages visitors to bring their children.

Featuring works in fiber, photography and screen printing, the show has as its unifying theme the world of children, both public and private.

"Children are a huge part of my life, and I am interested in their natures, their care and their place in society," Jennison said. "Their creativity and free spirit are my major inspirations and this passion has been the focus of my thesis work over the past two years."

"The current body of work continues her typically hybrid art combining weaving and photography that has become familiar to her growing audience at the Beard," commented gallery curator Kathryn Kramer, an associate professor of art and art history at SUNY Cortland. "Its theme is the social world of childhood."

Jennison's award-winning work has shown at the gallery since Spring 2007, when she was part of the inaugural group exhibition, "Best of Select," which is now an annual event that presents a selection of the SUNY Cortland Dowd Gallery's juried exhibition of student art held in May.

During that same season, she was featured in the "Shooting the Shuttle" exhibition, which was devoted to the work of student artists in the Art and Art History Department's Fiber Arts Program. In 2008, her work again appeared at the Beard Building Gallery in the "Best of Select" exhibition as well as in "Earthly Matters," an exhibition devoted to environmental themes in conjunction with the Committee on the Intellectual and Cultural Climate's year-long lecture series on the same theme.

Jennison is scheduled to graduate from SUNY Cortland on May 16. This summer she will continue her studies at the Sage Graduate School in Albany, N.Y.

The Beard Building Gallery is a collaboration of the Cortland Downtown Partnership, the Cultural Council of Cortland County and SUNY Cortland. For more information on the gallery, contact Kramer at (607) 753-4290 or kathryn.kramer@cortland.edu.

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