{"id":305,"date":"2007-09-26T12:06:54","date_gmt":"2007-09-26T17:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/?p=305"},"modified":"2014-09-23T09:25:30","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:25:30","slug":"art-graduate-student-among-15-in-nation-to-receive-15000-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/art-graduate-student-among-15-in-nation-to-receive-15000-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Graduate Student Among 15 in Nation to Receive $15,000 Grant"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\"art<\/p>\n
\nVitus Shell, a 2007 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation grant.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

OXFORD, Miss. – When University of Mississippi art graduate
\nstudent Vitus Shell was 3 years old, watermelons and
\npickles grew on trees. At least, that’s what he thought.
\nThe unusual “fruit trees” were among his favorite subjects
\nto illustrate.<\/span>
\n
<\/p>\n

\n“I didn’t know back then that watermelons didn’t grow on
\ntrees; that was just my thing,” said Shell, now 28 and in
\nhis final year of UM’s Master of Fine Arts program.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSince those early drawings, Shell’s “thing” has certainly
\nchanged, transitioning from the desire to be a comic book
\nartist, to the mixed-medium paintings and prints depicting
\nAfrican-American stereotypes and struggles that recently
\nearned him a $15,000 Joan Mitchell Foundation grant.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Louisiana native is one of 15 MFA students nationwide
\nto receive the prestigious award this year. He said some of
\nthe funds would go toward a wide-format printer to increase
\nboth the size and quantity of his work, helping to make his
\nmessage more widespread. “I’m excited about the grant,”
\nShell said. “I plan on making my work bigger, and doing
\nthat, I can address the problem (of African-American
\nstereotypes), and it could be more in your face, kind of
\nlike how the problem is for me.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe grant was awarded as part of the Joan Mitchell
\nFoundation’s 2007 MFA Grant Program, which was established
\nin 1997 to help graduate students shift into art as a
\ncareer. Shell was nominated for the grant by UM printmaking
\nassociate professor Sheri Reith, who taught him as an
\nundergraduate at the Memphis College of Art and encouraged
\nhim to enroll at Ole Miss.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhile Shell was surprised when he received the phone call
\ninforming him of the award, others were not.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“I think (Shell) is very aware of what is going on in the
\ncontemporary art world, and he knows where he fits into
\nit,” said Philip Jackson, assistant professor of art. “It
\ndoesn’t surprise me that he received the grant, because
\nhe’s a very talented individual. I see a lot of things to
\ncome. He shows a lot of promise.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShell has shown his artwork in both solo and group
\nexhibitions, and his pieces, such as those in the
\n“SlimCrow” and “Brown Paper Bag Test” series, address past
\nand present issues in African-American culture.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“My work is really dealing with the black experience, but
\nit is not just for black people,” Shell said. “It is just
\nmaking people re-examine what they think black is, and even
\nblack folks rethinking what was considered black. My work
\nis kind of playing around with those stereotypes and how
\npeople are perceived.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShell’s latest series, “Derty South,” places colorful
\nimages of people on a backdrop of faded, photocopied,
\nvintage 20th -century advertisements, to create a parallel
\nbetween old culture and new.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nShell graduated from the Memphis College of Art in 2000
\nand, after numerous exhibits, enrolled in Ole Miss’ MFA
\nprogram as a graduate printmaking student in 2005. An
\nexhibit of his work is displayed at Oxford’s Southside
\nGallery. A few can be viewed online at
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.southsideartgallery.com\/<\/a>
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nTo learn more about art education at UM, visit
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.olemiss.edu\/depts\/art\/<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vitus Shell, a 2007 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation grant. OXFORD, Miss. – When University of Mississippi art graduate student Vitus Shell was 3 years old, watermelons and pickles grew on trees. At least, that’s what he thought. The unusual “fruit trees” were among his favorite subjects to illustrate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nArt Graduate Student Among 15 in Nation to Receive $15,000 Grant - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/art-graduate-student-among-15-in-nation-to-receive-15000-grant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Art Graduate Student Among 15 in Nation to Receive $15,000 Grant - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vitus Shell, a 2007 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation grant. OXFORD, Miss. – When University of Mississippi art graduate student Vitus Shell was 3 years old, watermelons and pickles grew on trees. At least, that’s what he thought. The unusual “fruit trees” were among his favorite subjects to illustrate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/art-graduate-student-among-15-in-nation-to-receive-15000-grant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-23T14:25:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/wp-content\/uploads\/stories\/old?newsdesk\/art%20graduate%20student%20among.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/art-graduate-student-among-15-in-nation-to-receive-15000-grant\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/wp-content\/uploads\/stories\/old?newsdesk\/art graduate student among.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/art-graduate-student-among-15-in-nation-to-receive-15000-grant\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/art-graduate-student-among-15-in-nation-to-receive-15000-grant\/\",\"name\":\"Art Graduate Student Among 15 in Nation to Receive $15,000 Grant - Ole Miss News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/art-graduate-student-among-15-in-nation-to-receive-15000-grant\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-23T14:25:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/art-graduate-student-among-15-in-nation-to-receive-15000-grant\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/4515cb1b4f8a759552c0827c3df56430\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e8e7562bf6d779d771ad8ce4cecd7ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43113,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions\/43113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}