Thompson Art Gallery and Department Events Schedule

Fall 2024

Faculty/Student Summer Research Show

August 27 – September 13, 2024

Furman Queer Arts Initiative Juried Exhibition

Found Family: Queerness and Community in the South

September 23 – November 15, 2024

Closing Reception & Talk: November 15, 2024

Spring 2025

Curatorial Course Show

“After You,” William Paul Thomas 

January 13 – February 7, 2025

Artist Talk and Reception: January 23, 2025

Artist in Residence Exhibition

“Daily Bread, Derek Reese”

February 17 – March 28, 2025

Artist Talk and Reception: February 19, 2025

Senior Show

April 7 – May 10, 2025

Opening Reception: April 11, 2025

Roers Art Club is back! 

We have started back up the Roers art student club! Roers meets twice a month to do fun art related activities like Bob Ross paint night, murals and more. If you are a student and would like to join Roers or have general questions about the club, please contact club president, Torrey Kridel.

The Department of Art at Furman University invites applications for the 2026 True Inspiration Artist-in-Residence. The program awards a practicing artist or designer with an eight-week residency on Furman’s campus where they can continue the development of ongoing studio projects and/or embark upon new creative endeavors. The Artist-in-Residence receives a $6,000 stipend, a private studio in the Roe Art Building, access to Furman’s institutional support, and a solo exhibition in the Department of Art’s Thompson Art Gallery. The ideal resident will have a practice that complements and expands upon the Department of Art’s concentrations in drawing, painting, photography, ceramics, graphic design, sculpture, printmaking, and art history, as well as that demonstrates a capacity for interdisciplinary dialogue.

A PDF version of this call is available here

Eligibility

The True Inspiration Artist-in-Residence is open to emerging and professional artists or designers of all media who:

• Reside in North America and/or who currently have a US work permit.
• Hold an MFA by the start of the residency or who have a significant record of exhibition and professional achievement.
• Live outside the upstate South Carolina region.

Residency Themes

This cycle, the Department of art if especially interested in artists and designers whose work engages one or more of the following themes:

• Historical memory, archiving, or institutionality (Furman celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2026).
• Immigration, social justice and advocacy, or the lived experience of marginalized social entities.
• Practices of sustainability (personal, public, economic, environmental, etc.)

Residency Expectations

During their time at Furman, it is expected that the resident will:

• Be in residence for a period of at least 8 weeks and a maximum of 16 weeks during the Spring 2026 semester (January 12 to May 9, 2026). The resident may elect when and how long the residency takes place.
• Make significant progress on a proposed studio project.
• Provide work for a six-week solo exhibition in the Thompson Art Gallery during the Spring 2026 semester. The exhibited works do not have to be related to the proposed residency project. The selected resident will submit a formal exhibition proposal in December 2025 prior to the start of the residency. The Thompson Gallery is approximately 1100 sq ft with 115 linear ft of exhibitable wall space.
• Give two formal artist / gallery talks. The first will be a welcome talk at the start of the residency and the second a gallery talk at the exhibition’s reception.
• Design and run a one-day workshop for Furman students.
• Hold at least 20 hours of open studio hours per week. Most of these 20 hours should be scheduled during working hours (weekdays, 9am to 5pm) to facilitate engagement with Furman’s students and faculty.

Compensation and Support

For the duration of their residency, the resident receives:

• A $6,000 stipend to offset material and living expenses
• A $500 budget for supplies
• 24-hour access to a private studio in Furman’s Roe Art Building
• Access, pending demonstrated experience, to the Department of Art’s equipment (the resident is responsible for all associated material costs)

As an affiliate of Furman University, the resident also receives free access to the physical and institutional resources of the university’s larger academic community, including:

• James B. Duke Library and Special Collections
• PAC Fitness Center
• Parking pass
• Computer / Software Licenses (such as Adobe) / IT support

The resident is responsible for the cost and arrangement of their housing, food, transportation, materials, and supplies.

About Furman University, the Department of Art, and Greenville

Furman University is a small liberal arts university located in Greenville, SC. With 2,500 on-campus students from across the nation, the university strives to support lifelong learners through inquiry, transformative experiences, and deep reflection. Furman highly values interdisciplinary dialogue and scholarly engagement.

Residents are encouraged to consider their project’s capacity to engage and promote interdisciplinary dialogue. Campus resources and organizations that may be of potential interest to residents include:

• Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities
• Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership
• Institute for the Advancement of Community Health
• Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Furman University Special Collections
• The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program

The Department of Art has about 60 students majoring in art history or studio art. It inaugurated the True Inspiration Artist-in-Residence in 2016 as part of The Furman Advantage—a university-wide program that aims to build educational value for students through accelerated career exposure. The residency is intended to promote and encourage contact between the resident and Furman’s academic community, thereby providing Furman’s students with the opportunity to witness and engage with a professional, practicing artist or designer as they complete existing creative projects and develop new ones.

The upstate South Carolina area is rapidly growing with a rich history rooted in the textile industry. The New York Times ranked Greenville #12 on their 52 Places to Go in 2017 and Condé Traveler readers named it among the top 5 small cities in 2021. Local arts organizations include:

• Queer Arts Initiative
• Greenville Center for Creative Arts
• Greenville County Museum of Art
• Metropolitan Arts Council Directory of Artists and Galleries

Application Procedure:

To apply for the 2026 True Inspiration Artist-in-Residence, please submit the following materials as a single PDF to thompsongallery@furman.edu by Friday, May 30, 2025. There is no fee to apply.

Statement of Intent (limit 500 words): Outline the project(s) to be explored in the studio during the residency period including the material, conceptual, and creative goals.

Programming Statement (limit 300 words): Broadly discuss potential ideas for the gallery exhibition. Propose a potential resident-led workshop for undergraduate students. Explain the concepts with which students will engage and any material / space requirements.

Artist Statement (limit 500 words)

Artist Biography (limit 200 words)

CV with contact information

Portfolio

• 10 images of recent / existing work with titles, dimensions, materials, and year created.
• Please include an image list.
• Links to videos should be embedded in the PDF.

Application Timeline:

Submission Deadline: Friday, May 30 by 11:59pm

Notification of Application Status: By Friday, June 18

Formal Exhibition Proposal for Accepted Resident: Friday, December 5, 2025

Residency: Spring 2026

More Information:

Questions related to the 2026 True Inspiration Artist-in-Residence may be directed to Dr. Stephen Mandravelis at thompsongallery@furman.edu.

The Thompson Art Gallery is currently not accepting exhibition proposals. The next open call for exhibition will be made available in early Fall 2025. This call will solicit proposals for exhibitions during the Fall 2027 and Spring 2028 academic year.

The Department of Art is excited to welcome Derek Reese as the 2025 True Inspiration Artist-in-Residence. Reese will operate an open studio in the courtyard of Furman’s Roe Art Building throughout the Spring 2025 semester and prepare work for his exhibition, Daily Bread, opening in the Thompson Art Gallery on February 17, 2025. During his time at Furman, Reese will also offer two artist-led workshops with students, as well as teach a section of ART112: Introduction to Sculpture.

Daily Bread explores food insecurity in the Upstate and the impact of consumer capitalism on the region’s low-income communities. Using data drawn from the Greenville County Food Insecurity Index, local partnerships, and in-person community engagement, Reese will develop artworks that visualize the ways discount chain stores, such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree, exacerbate food insecurity, restrict access to healthy food options, and compromise communities’ resilience to other social factors beyond just food.

Check back here in early January 2025 for more information about Derek Reese, the Artist-in-Residence welcome events, details about Daily Bread, and his artist-led workshops!

Derek Reese is an interdisciplinary artist whose creative journey traverses the tapestry of Appalachian heritage and the evolving socio-political landscape of contemporary America. Hailing from the former coal mining village of Maidsville, West Virginia, and now based in the post-industrial milieu of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his artistic practice is deeply rooted in the transformative power of transitioning environments. Beyond his artistic endeavors, Reese is also deeply committed to arts education and community engagement via the arts. As the Director of Artist Services at Shiftworks: Community + Public Arts, he empowers aspiring artists to create successful art in the public realm and fosters meaningful connections within a vast array of communities. His passion for social justice and advocacy infuses every aspect of his practice, driving positive change and inspiring collective action.

Reese is a graduate of West Virginia University and holds a Master of Fine Arts from Ohio State University. He represented the United States in the Bienal de Arte Contemporáneo in Antofagasta, Chile in 2021, where he premiered the critically acclaimed short film, Masculine Artifacts (The Miner and the Miner Stripped of His Clothes) Part II. Other recent exhibitions include The Myth of the American Dream at Tyler School of Art and Architecture (Philadelphia, PA 2024); You’re Doing it Wrong at Associated Artists of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA 2024); and Masculine Artifacts at Fairmont State University (Fairmont, WV 2023).