Student Art Gallery Founder Named Director of New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art

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Director Garry Holstein and some pieces from the Roliqueries exhibition by Amy Brier, currently on exhibit at the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Garry Holstein, founder of sUgAR, the University of Arkansas Student Gallery, was named director for the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art at the University of Southern Indiana earlier this year.

“Starting sUgAR was an essential step in the development of my professional capabilities,” said Holstein. “In that position, I had the opportunity to work through many of the challenges I face in my current position.”

As director, Holstein selects artists for the eight exhibitions featured annually by the gallery, oversees the consignment gallery and recruits new regional artists for the space, develops artist workshops and directs one fellowship student.

The cornerstone of the gallery’s mission is education and access to art. The gallery provides a non-for-profit exhibition space for early- and mid-career artists to show their work in a professional setting. Focusing on current Midwestern artists, the goal is to give access to contemporary art in the southern Indiana region.

Holstein is also involved with organizing local festivals and developing public art projects. He works with faculty from the university’s art department to bring visiting artists and increase student participation through their outreach gallery.

Hostein said through sUgAR he gained “experience with developing interdepartmental projects and cultivating the public identity of an exhibition space, which I find myself drawing upon here in New Harmony.”

sUgAR is a student-run exhibition space and is an interdisciplinary effort among the department of art in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and the departments of architecture, interior design and landscape architecture in the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

University of Arkansas Student Gallery, sUgAR Projects: Student Pop-Up Gallery is still going strong. The gallery will host the Spring 2013 ARTwalk from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday, May 4. With work from the departments of art, landscape architecture and interior design, professors and students will be available at the Fine Arts Center and the Ceramics Studio (326 S. Eastern Avenue) to answer questions regarding their art.