Hallie Ford Museum of Art features the art of senior studio art majors and faculty member Cayla Skillin-Brauchle

Each spring, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, pairs its annual senior art majors exhibition with a small solo exhibition of recent work by one of the faculty members in the art department at Willamette University. The purpose of the exhibitions are to demonstrate the continuing connection and relationship between student and faculty research. 

This year’s senior studio art majors exhibition, “Tangent”,  features the work of nine senior art studio students, while the faculty exhibition, “Cayla Skillin-Brauchle: Locating,” focuses on recent works by Assistant Professor Cayla Skillin-Brauchle (American, born 1984). The exhibitions open April 17 and continue through May 15 in the Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery and the Atrium Gallery, respectively.

Tangent

“Tangent”, an exhibition of work by senior studio art students at Willamette, is characterized by a variety of styles and approaches and includes handmade dolls, jewelry, drawings, sculptures, prints, video, and mixed media installations. This year’s senior art studio students include Emma Rose Callahan Burgess (Santa Rosa, CA), Mason Feldtkeller (Sedona, AZ), Sarah Grahn (Woodland, CA), Kara “Efflorescence” Lantz (Cornelius, OR), Elizabeth Larson (Bend, OR), Lily O’Brien (Portland, OR), Emma Stocker (Galisteo, NM), Wolfgang W. Widrig (Los Angeles, CA), and Bailey Joell Wright (Austin, TX).

As a special feature, the current group of seniors will discuss their work as part of two free virtual Tuesday gallery talks at noon on April 27 and May 4, via a Zoom link available at willamette.edu/go/sam2021.

Cayla-Skillin Brauchle: Locating

“Cayla Skillin-Brauchle: Locating” incorporates drawings, photographs, sculptures, repurposed materials, and textiles into a dynamic installation enhanced by two live performances.

“Locating” draws inspiration from data, geography, and an urgency to combat feelings of estrangement born out of our current social and political environment. “Locating” uses the metaphor of honing in on our personal coordinates as a strategy to find common ground and the  exhibition explores this through a variety of expressive media.

This exhibition incorporates two complimentary performances of “Our Bodies Know the Way,” the newest collaboration between Cayla Skillin-Brauchle and Cal Lawton (WU Studio Art Alum, 2018). Props and costumes for this performance were created by Skillin-Brauchle and Lawton and will be on view for the duration of the exhibition. Performances commence on Saturday, April 17th starting at 2 p.m. and Saturday, April 24th starting at 2 p.m. They can be viewed in person (limited capacity) or via Livestream. Links will be posted at willamette.edu/go/hfma-locating.

Skillin-Brauchle teaches drawing, installation art, social practice, and performance art and holds a BA degree from Beloit College in Wisconsin and an MFA degree from Ohio University in Athens and is currently an assistant professor of art at Willamette University. Her most recent awards include a 2019 Ford Family Foundation Fellowship at the Djerassi Resident Artists program where she created much of the work in her current exhibition.

Financial Support

Financial support for this exhibition has been provided by general operating support grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.