TWU Division of Visual Arts

09/30/2026

DREAM BIG | 125th Anniversary Juried Alumni Exhibition
09.30–10.24.26
TWU East Gallery

Celebrating TWU’s 125th Anniversary & its evolution from a teacher's college to the nation’s largest woman-focused university system, the Division of Visual Arts is pleased announce a Juried Alumni Exhibition, Sept. 30 – Oct. 24, 2026. A closing reception will be held Friday, Oct. 23, from 5:00–7:00 p.m. All are invited!

The exhibition highlights TWU’s rich history of ongoing creativity & fostering meaningful, diverse dialogue among current students, alumni, & the broader community. Showcasing creative voices from emerging, mid-career, & established artists spanning various mediums, underscoring the dynamic breadth of artistic inquiry & empowered expression that continues to shape & define the legacy of TWU's Visual Arts.

JUROR:
Judy Tedford Deaton, Chief Curator, Director of Exhibitions and Collections at The Grace Museum.

FEATURING:
▫️ Lauren Allen, BFA 2014
▫️ Ellie Alonzo, BFA 2013
▫️ Deedra Baker, MFA 2016
▫️ Ali Barnett, MFA 2024
▫️ April Beall, BFA 2011
▫️ Ashley Boydston, BFA 2017
▫️ Maureen Cole, MFA 1990
▫️ Brittany Cooper, BFA 2015
▫️ Cory Cryer, MFA 2004
▫️ Randall Day, MFA 2022
▫️ Donna Durbin, MFA 1991
▫️ Ross Faircloth, MFA 2012
▫️ Carol Fairlie, BFA 1990
▫️ Jordan Funk, BFA 2019
▫️ Amy Gantt, MFA 2004
▫️ Christen Humphries, MFA 2009
▫️ Kate Hilburn, MFA 1995
▫️ Robert Hold, BFA 2019
▫️ Nitashia Johnson, BFA 2008
▫️ Ashley Kauschinger, MFA 2014
▫️ Ester Kibby, MFA 2005
▫️ Lori Maclean, MFA 2015
▫️ Ruth Monjaras, BFA 2021
▫️ Michael Mulvey, MFA 2021
▫️ Cher Musico, MFA 2022
▫️ Abigail Rainey, MFA 2025
▫️ Humna Raza, BFA 2019
▫️ Gebbar Sandoval, BFA 2024
▫️ Shawn Saumell, BFA 2008
▫️ Susan Seaborn, MFA 2026
▫️ Kelly Waller, MFA 2024
▫️ Leighann Williams-Hickey, MFA 2010
▫️ James Zamora, MFA 2015

We hope you will join us in celebrating this important milestone in TWU’s history & the accomplishments of its alumni community.

DREAM BIG | 125th Anniversary Juried Alumni Exhibition
🗓 09.30–10.24.26
📍 TWU East Gallery
⏰ Reception | Friday, Oct. 23 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.

09/29/2026

DREAM BIG | Alumni Invitational
09.30–10.24.26
TWU West Gallery

In celebration of Texas Woman’s University’s 125th Anniversary and its remarkable evolution from a teachers’ college to the nation’s largest woman-focused university system, dedicated to cultivating engaged leaders and global citizens, the Division of Visual Arts is pleased announce a distinguished alumni invitational exhibition, September 30 – October 24, 2026. A closing reception will be held Friday, October 23, from 5:00–7:00 p.m. All are invited!

These TWU alumni's artistic practice and professional accomplishments exemplify the creativity, excellence, and impact that define our university community. We are honored to showcase their work as a source of inspiration for our students, alumni, and the broader public while celebrating the enduring legacy of the TWU Visual Arts program.

As you can imagine, the selection process was both thoughtful and challenging. We have ultimately identified a group of distinguished alumni whose contributions reflect the breadth and vitality of our program. In conjunction with the invitational exhibition, we will also present a juried exhibition featuring additional TWU alumni in an adjacent gallery space.

FEATURING:
▫️ Arista Alanis, BFA 1990
▫️ Sheryl Anaya, BFA 2013
▫️ Kalee Appleton, MFA 2014
▫️ Alisa Banks, MFA 2006
▫️ Kelli Connell, MFA 2003
▫️ Lindsay Dunnagan, MFA 2013
▫️ Arthur Fields, MFA 2011
▫️ Earline Green, MFA 1996
▫️ Janis Hefley, MA 1997
▫️ Esther Hyunh, BFA 2011
▫️ Setria James, MA 2010
▫️ Elizabeth Mellot, BFA 2000
▫️ Bernardo Vallarino, MFA 2016
▫️ Ashley Whitt, MFA 2012
▫️ Morgan Ford-Willingham, MFA 2008

We sincerely hope you will join us in celebrating this important milestone in the university’s history and the accomplishments of its alumni community.

DREAM BIG | Alumni Invitational
🗓 09.30–10.24.26
📍 TWU West Gallery
⏰ Reception | Friday, Oct 23 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.

09/25/2026

WELCOME GRADS!
Megan Parman

"Connecting to people is hard. The world is divided. I look at pre-historic art, such as "Cuevos de los Manos," to remind myself that we all have the same common denominator: We are human. I use figurative art, especially in sculptural work, to describe how I exist in discomfort, change, memory, & hope. I equate those feelings to the natural world. Flowers - beautiful and temporary - have a lot of symbolism & a language to them that goes back centuries. Rock formations have slow, unseen change & permeance. They hold history in art, preservation, & environmental conditions from thousands of years ago. I work in ceramics & metals, materials and processes that unite me with their rich, extensive history. Repetitive physical movements leave marks behind that make each work unique.” – Megan Parman

Megan Parman is from the Houston area. Ceramics is her first love, and she enjoys making large scale sculptural work. She graduated from Texas State University this past Spring. She is a metalsmith & enjoys working with steel, charcoal, & carved block printmaking. While at Texas State, she worked as a Ceramic Studio Aide and has been invited to work in that position at TWU. She loves to share & teach others the skills she has learned & is looking forward to this Fall as a Pioneer!

"I plan to expand my knowledge of pre-historic art, find inspiration in my new environment of North Texas, & learn from the experiences of my cohort and peers as I build new relationships. While at TWU, I have a goal of working with the mural movement started in Denton to expand to a public Sculpture installation. Public art is of great interest and importance to me as I work in a large scale."

Follow along with the TWU Graduate school for Explore Grad School Week, through September 26. For more information, check out: twu.edu/gradadmissionsevents/explore-grad-school-week

09/24/2026

WELCOME GRADS!
Janice Montes

"My work combines photography and photoshop in the composition process, creating distorted scenarios and realities to achieve a surreal composition, which is then translated to canvas using oil paint. My paintings explore psychological themes and identity struggles that can come to life while becoming an adult. Day to day questions like, "Who I am? Who am I supposed to be? What? Why? How? Where? When?" Questions surrounding a lack of self identity and a distortion of reality, like derealization and depersonalization. The inspiration behind my work comes from personal experiences and autobiographical moments." – Janice Montes

Janice Montes is a visual artist focused on figurative oil painting. She grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, and moved to Texas at 17 years old. Shortly after moving to the United States, Janice enrolled in art classes at Tarrant County College, where she participated in live painting events and hosted paint and sip parties as an instructor. During her time at college, she participated in multiple art exhibitions and sold her first art work in 2021. She attended the University of Texas at Arlington, completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and exhibiting her work in galleries and museums.

As a Texas Woman's University Graduate student, Janice is looking forward to creating a bigger portfolio and finding more art opportunities.

Follow along with the TWU Graduate school for Explore Grad School Week, through September 26. For more information, check out: twu.edu/gradadmissionsevents/explore-grad-school-week

09/16/2026

TWU Faculty Emeritus, Susan Kae Grant, has a recently released monograph of her longtime project, “Night Journey.”

Check it out!

“I went somewhere last night”—that’s what Susan kae Grant told her mother as a child, already fascinated by where her dreams took her. In 1990, she started keeping paper and a hand-held tape recorder by her bed; listening back, she found recordings that “did not sound like my voice,” made in a state she couldn’t remember. That discovery led her to sleep researcher Dr. John Herman at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who woke her mid-REM under lab conditions to record what she’d experienced in the dream state. NIGHT JOURNEY is twenty-six years of photographs that grew out of that collaboration. Pre-order now, link in bio.

09/04/2026

RED / YELLOW: ReConnect
Kathy Lovas & Susan Sponsler Carstarphen
TWU East Gallery

KATHY LOVAS was born in Duluth, Minnesota. She holds a B.S. in Biology from St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, and an MFA in Studio Art: Photography from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.

"My artworks constitute a career-long investigation into the ontology of photography. Freely moving between photography, sculpture, and installation, my projects are based on narratives about current or past events, and often include familiar objects from my home or studio, such as chairs, tables, clothing, and snapshots. All of my projects, as well as this blog-style website, constitute an ongoing exploration of photographic indexicality, the archive, and the frame."

Kathy Lovas lives and works in Dallas, Texas and is represented by Lilliana Bloch Gallery in Dallas, Texas.

SUSAN SPONSLER-CARSTARPHEN was born in Seoul, South Korea. She was adopted when she was an infant and grew up on a farm in Iowa. She earned a B.A. in Advertising Design at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa and an MFA in Studio Art: Photography at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.

Her work explores issues related to identity and being an Asian American
international adoptee and consists of photo-based artworks which include
ceramics, cyanotype images on fabric, encaustic paintings, installation,
mixed-media images, and quilts.

Sponsler-Carstarphen currently lives in Dallas and works in her studio at the Goldmark Cultural Center.

RED/YELLOW:ReConnect runs through September 11, 2026. Joins us for a closing artist reception on Thursday, September 10, 2026 from 5:00–7:00 p.m.

RED/YELLOW: ReConnect
📍 TWU East Gallery, TWU Fine Arts Building
🗓 08.17 – 09.11.26
⏰ Reception: TH 09.10.26 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.

08/28/2026

ON VIEW NOW | The Forgotten Nine

The TWU Division of Visual Arts & TWU Special Collections present an exhibition of the “Forgotten Nine,” a term coined by Dr. Jack Davis, referring to a group of women & Visual Arts faculty members who made significant contributions to TWU and the Texas art scene. This group of women, including Marjorie Baltzell, Edith Brisac, Carlotta Corpron, Marie Delleney, Mattie Lee Lacy, Dorothy Antoinette “Toni” LaSelle, Thetis Lemmon, Mary Marshall, & Coreen Mary Spellman, had long careers at TWU. Mabel Maxcy, though not included in Davis’s “Forgotten Nine,” was also a significant TWU arts faculty member.

During their time at TWU these women not only fostered the artistic talents of thousands of students, but also made lasting physical marks on campus. Directed by Toni LaSelle, the Chapel Arts Project brought together the Visual Arts faculty members and over 300 students to create the stained glass, metal fixtures, carved wood details, and mosaics for the Little Chapel in the Woods. While the building no longer exists, the Forgotten Nine also had a hand in the interior design of the Classroom Building, later called the Patio Building. Edith Brisac, Carlotta Corpron, Toni LaSelle, and Mabel Maxcy designed decorative tiles that were fitted in the wrought iron balcony framework and Coreen Mary Spellman designed a star-themed brick mural on the exterior wall facing Oakland Street.

In addition to their contribution to teaching, they pushed the boundaries of the Texas art scene, introducing modernist imagery into their work, while many of their Texas male contemporaries remained situated in the regionalist style of the time. Some of the Forgotten Nine’s work can be found in major collections such as the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, National Gallery of Art, & Whitney Museum of American Art.

The exhibition runs August 24 – September 11, 2026 in the TWU West Gallery. Join us for a closing reception Thursday, September 10, 2026 from 5:00–7:00 p.m.

THE FORGOTTEN NINE
📍 TWU West Gallery, TWU Fine Arts Building
🗓 08.24–09.11.26
⏰ Reception: TH September 10, 2026 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.

08/26/2026

RED / YELLOW: ReConnect
Kathy Lovas & Susan Sponsler Carstarphen
TWU East Gallery

ON VIEW NOW in the TWU East Gallery, Texas Woman’s University alumnae Kathy Lovas and Susan Sponsler-Carstarphen reprise their collaborative project RED/YELLOW, in RED/YELLOW: ReConnect, a combination of current and earlier works.

RED/YELLOW: Re:Connect is a collaborative project by Kathy Lovas and Susan Sponsler-Carstarphen. The Red Work by Lovas is based on the indexical nature of such references, while Sponsler-Carstarphen’s Yellow Work is an exploration of “naming” in the creation of self.

RED/YELLOW: Re:Connect represents a merging of their sensibilities to the process of art making, to the poignant role photography plays in speaking about one’s origins,
and to the viewer’s contribution to meaning.

The show runs through September 11, 2026. Joins us for a closing artist reception on Thursday, September 10, 2026 from 5:00–7:00 p.m.

RED/YELLOW: ReConnect
📍 TWU East Gallery, TWU Fine Arts Building
🗓 08.17 – 09.11.26
⏰ Reception: TH 09.10.26 | 5:00–7:00 p.m.

08/24/2026

JOIN US! TH AUG 27
Join us for an Undergraduate Welcome Event in the TWU Fine Arts Building Foyer.

TWU's Division of Visual Arts presents an Undergraduate Welcome Event to welcome our Fall 2026 Undergraduate Visual Arts students. Join us Thursday, August 27, 2026 from 5:00 – 6:30pm. in the TWU Fine Arts Building Foyer.

Learn more about our course offerings and student organizations, meet our faculty and staff, and network with your community!

See you there!

Undergraduate Welcome Event
🗓 08.27.26 | 5:00 – 6:30pm
📍 Fine Arts Building | Foyer

06/30/2026

DEADLINE EXTENDED!
Apply by 07.10.26

Attention Alumni!
The Call for Entry portal (now CreativeWest) was under construction, so we've decided to extend our entries deadline for 2 MORE WEEKS!

APPLY BY: July 10, 2026.
Get those entries in today!

◻️ tr.ee/TWU125AlumniShow