May 2011

Art Trail Gallery in Florence, SC, Features Works by Kathleen Pompe’s Students and Children’s Art Works

The Art Trail Gallery in Florence, SC, will present two new exhibits including: Pompe’s Protégés, featuring an exhibit which celebrates the legacy of Kathleen Pompe’s tenure as a professor of photography at Francis Marion University, on view from May 5 - 27, 2011, with a reception on May 5, at 6pm, and Cultivating Creativity: The Children’s Exhibit, featuring works by students from Florence School District One, on view from May 6 - 27, 2011, with a reception on May 6, from 5:30-8pm.

Pompe’s Protégés, is sponsored by the Florence Regional Arts Alliance and coordinated by Benjamin Watford, who is one of Pompe’s protégés. The show will include a wide range of works produced by current and former students of Kathleen Pompe, retiring Francis Marion University Photography Professor. Watford felt there should be something more than a retirement party for a teacher who has given so very much to her students.

According to Arts Alliance Executive Director Frank H. Crow, Jr., “It is hoped that this show will be a representative exhibition of works produced by the students of a truly seasoned and award winning photographer who has dedicated much of her life to teaching those who will follow in her footsteps.”

Current and previous students who have been invited to participate include Leah Anderson, Jessica Baxley, Jared Beauchamp, Leeanna Brown, Robert Carroll, Casey Clark, Nancy Devon Coward, Caroline Crouch, Arial Dasilva, Megan Dewitt, Ashlee Driggers, Jennifer Ervin, Tari Federer, Leah Gibbons, Symon Gibson, Tony Gloster, Susan Goldstein, Aaron Gotter, Eleni Katherine Gotter, Ashley Harrington, Jennifer Hart, Caroline Jesson, Allison Jones, Elliot Jones, Shelly Kennedy, Hilary Greenwell, Sandy Lam, Adrel Langley, Angelica Y. Larrimore, Lance Linton, Bethany Luhman, Bethany Luminious, Amber McKenzie, C. J. Miller, Stephen Motte, Lara Munnerlyn, Christina Murphy, Jimmie Orange, Sue Orr, Nicole Ouellette, Jamie Owens, Joseph Richards, Latoya Singleton, Iris Slade, Lindsay Stamp, Joseph Steen, Andrew Stout, Tifanny Thomas, and Benjamin Watford.

Pompe holds BA and MFA degrees from The Pennsylvania State University. She also completed course work for an MA in History of Photography. In addition, she has participated in three digital workshops in Santa Fe, NM; a digital imaging workshop at the International Center for Photography in New York City; and two Visual Studies Workshops in Rochester, NY.

Pompe has also exhibited in some 40 solo and two-person exhibitions in museums as well as commercial and university galleries in such cities as Pittsburgh, Bolder, Atlanta, Amarillo, Harrisburg, and New South Wales, Australia. Her photographs have been selected for inclusion in more that 120 national and regional exhibitions.

Photographs by Pompe have been published in numerous journals, magazines, and photography books over her 30-year career. Twenty-four of her photographs are included in the book, Altered Environments: The Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her recent art work is featured in ‘Kakalak’ 2009 Anthology of Carolina Poets. Her work is also published in Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age.

Pompe offered the following statement, “I enjoy photography because it embraces many techniques and processes, many of which I’ve practiced. As a visual artist, I’ve never felt the desire or need to leave the visual art medium of photography, which is constantly evolving and embracing the most recent technology. I can utilize the latest image making techniques, but can retain the long-established process of seeing, selecting, and composing, as well as using light to create a composition.”

Pompe continues, “In recent years, I find that I am returning to somewhat ‘straight’ images that ‘speak’ through traditional photographic language. In many of these images, I find that the images speak more eloquently when left alone to stand as photographs, rather than as manipulated images or digital montages. On the other hand, some of my images communicate better as narratives and are best represented through digital montage. Today, I utilize the camera and computer systems interchangeably, each complementing and completing the other. My subject matter has been, and continues to be, fragments seen and moments observed. I approach imaging and image capture with a senses of serendipity.”

The exhibit, Cultivating Creativity: The Children’s Exhibit, will feature the creative endeavors of students from Florence School District One. The exhibit is being coordinated by Laura McFadden, a Briggs Elementary art teacher and Coordinator of Florence One’s Visual Arts Program was named South Carolina Art Educator of the Year in October, 2010.

The children’s exhibit is expected to feature a wide-range of expressive talents fostered by the enthusiastic efforts of the Florence District One art educators. The Gallery is pleased to offer the viewing public this chance to preview the emerging talents in the community.

For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/673-0729 or visit (www.art-trail-gallery.com)

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