Jason Guynes wins “Best in Show”
Posted on February 28, 2017 by Arts and Sciences
Muralist Jason Guynes, Professor of Art and Chairperson for the Department of Visual Arts at the University of South Alabama was awarded “Best in Show” for his oil painting, “Canebreak: A Self- Portrait,” in the Art of the State exhibit at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on Jan. 21, 2014. His painting remained on display until March 7, 2014.
The Tennessee Valley Museum of Art hosted its third biennial Art of State exhibition from January 19 to March 7. The exhibit invited studio art faculty members from Alabama universities and colleges to participate in the exhibit. This year 26 art faculty from 14 universities in the state of Alabama were invited to participate.
“The 38 works presented diverse commentary through a range of media, including painting, printmaking, photography and sculpture, and represent the wide ranging engagement in contemporary art by professors in the state,” said Stephanie Qualls, curator of exhibitions. Internationally recognized artists were Allen and Ron Dale, emeritus professors from the University of Mississippi, were jurors for the exhibition.
“It’s always nice to be recognized, particularly when the jurors are as well known and highly respected, and when there was so much exceptional work in the show,” Guynes said.
Guynes graduated with a master of fine arts in painting from Tulane University in 1991. Since his graduation, he has dedicated nearly 22 years toward educating others. He has worked at Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OPSU), the University of West Alabama (UWA) and finally the University of South Alabama. As many readers know, he painted the 50th Anniversary mural at the Bell Tower at Moulton Plaza on the USA campus.
As for mural paining, Guynes says he was interested from an early age. “I suppose that I got into it in the fifth grade when Mrs. Pitts, my homeroom teacher, asked me to paint a mural on the back of the cubby holes,” he said. “Growing up, it was strictly forbidden to color on walls in our house-- something I dearly wanted to do. And, after all these years, it still feels like I’m getting away with something when I paint a mural.”