HOSTED BY Odessa College
CONFERENCE CHAIR Christopher Stanley

CONFERENCE HOTEL BOOKING AVAILABLE

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

To view session descriptions and locations, download the full schedule/program

Thursday, October 22

1:00 - 3:50 PM TASA Board Meeting
4:00 - 4:30 PM Visiting Artist Talk
4:30 - 5:30 PM Conference Welcome & Visiting Artist Reception
4:00 - 7:00 PM Conference Check-In

Friday, October 23

9:00 - 9:10 AM Welcome to Odessa College
9:10 - 10:50 AM Keynote Address: Tina Fuentes

Illusions and the Mapping of Space.
I was born in San Angelo and raised in Odessa, Texas. I earned my B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees from the University of North Texas in Denton, where I studied painting, drawing, and printmaking. My teaching experience includes art instruction in Texas public schools, the Waco Art Center, the University of Albuquerque, the University of New Mexico, and the School of Art at Texas Tech University. In my studio practice, I have long explored illusions of space inspired by the landscapes of the Plains of New Mexico and West Texas. As a native West Texan, I have developed a deep engagement with expansive terrain and atmospheric space. Geographic and atmospheric phenomena have shaped my interest in the vast arid lands of the desert corridor and the terrains that extend beyond them. My research draws on persistent atmospheric views, including sandstorms, lightning strikes, and cumulus cloud formations. Over the past two years, my weekly travels between the Permian Basin and Lubbock have introduced a new discourse in my work: the disruption of the landscape by oil and gas activity. The flatlands of the Texas Panhandle reveal multiple oil tank stations and hundreds of pumpjacks moving liquid with each stroke. If this activity is visible above ground, what remains unseen underground? The Railroad Commission mapping has helped me understand the extent of what is taking place beneath the surface. By taking my drawing instruments and camera to the outskirts of these locations, I record invaded vast spaces and return to the studio with ideas and images that inform my visual interpretations. These interpretations revolve around mapping both the seen and the unseen.

11:00 AM - 12:20 PM Breakout Sessions

• Panel Discussion on AI: Advances in AI in Education

• Alexander Moreno: Community Outreach in a Community College Fab Lab

• Carol Fairlie: Tips and Tricks in Drawing Faces

12:30 - 1:20 PM Lunch
1:30 - 4:20 PM Breakout Sessions

• Gwendolyn Davies: Pinhole Camera Kit • DEMO

• Joe Pena: See/Know/Think – Looking at Art • LECTURE

• Tracey Moore: Eminence Rising Exhibition • EXHIBITION/LECTURE

4:30 - 5:50 PM Globe Theatre Production

4:30 - 6:50 PM Portfolio Reviews
Student feedback session for high school, undergrad, grad, and transfer fine arts students.
Download Portfolio Review Flyer
RSVP by Oct 22 USING THIS FORM
FMI: contact Leandra.Urrutia@tamucc.edu

7:00 - 8:30 PM Banquet Dinner
8:30 - 9:30 PM One-Square-Foot Exhibition & Reception
Sedate Hall Hallway, right outside the Phillips Goff Gallery.
Artwork can be mailed to the campus or delivered day-of. Mailing address and cutoff date for shipping TBD.

Saturday, October 24

9:00 - 10:50 AM Excellence in the Field Award Lecture: Joel Zika

Installation Art & the Experience Economy: A Guide to Reclaiming Immersive Experiences for Artists and Educators.
Dr. Joel Zika (Assistant Professor of Virtual Production, Texas A&M University) traces the rise of location-based, immersive art experiences (from Meow Wolf to Houston's ArtClub) and asks what they mean for artists and educators at a time when small and mid-size galleries are disappearing. Drawing on his own large-scale hologram, light, and sculptural installations, Zika presents case studies of how artists negotiate corporate and entertainment-driven spaces and offers a framework for using the experience economy without giving up artistic autonomy or pedagogical depth.

11:00 AM - 12:20 PM Breakout Sessions

• Tim Gonchoroff: Rope Making • DEMO

• Clara Hoag: Ceramic Head Workshop • DEMO

• Sumayah Jackson: State of Black Design Conference Overview • LECTURE

12:30 - 1:20 PM TASA All-Member Business Lunch • MEETING/MEAL
1:30 - 2:50 PM Paul Hanna Award Lecture: Fulden De Wissinger

Cultural Crossroads: Negotiating Identity Through Ceramic Form.
Fulden Şara Wissinger (Professor, Art, Communications & Theatre, Texas A&M University–Kingsville) discusses a ceramic practice shaped by growing up in Istanbul, at the crossroads of Byzantine, Seljuk, Ottoman, and contemporary visual traditions. Combining geometric, architecture- and graphic-design-informed forms with Turkish calligraphy and Arabesque ornamentation, her sculptures stage a dialogue between structure and fluidity, tradition and innovation. She will also speak to how personal loss and memory have shaped her recent, increasingly autobiographical body of work.

3:00 - 4:50 PM Breakout Sessions

• Daiken Asakawa: Fabricating Ceramic Tools • DEMO

• Ann Johnson: Sandy Speaks (Bench) • LECTURE

• Leila Hernandez: Syllabus Shield • LECTURE

5:00 - 7:00 PM Post-Conference TASA Board Meeting (Dinner Catered)