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Kevin Benham Won Rome Prize 2020-21

Art & Design, Research, Landscape Architecture, Honors & Awards, Faculty, Doctor of Design,
Kevin Benham

Kevin Benham

Kevin Benham, assistant professor of landscape architecture, has been awarded the prestigious Rome Prize 2020–21 fellowship to advance his research on transhumance.

The American Academy in Rome (AAR) awards the highly competitive fellowships to support advanced independent work and research in the arts and humanities. This year, fellowships were awarded to twenty-two American and two Italian artists and scholars, who demonstrate excellence in their respective fields.

“I will research herd migrations in Italy and reevaluate transhumance through a contemporary ecological and urban lens by deploying a series of landscape interventions integrating rural elements (sheep or other herbivores) into the urban environment,” Benham said.

“Transhumance is a historically important type of livestock grazing that has existed as a landscape strategy for millennia. In Italy, it involves the seasonal movement of herds (mainly sheep) in southeastern Italy between regions in Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, and Puglia. Routes of this historical practice, known today as the Shepard’s Track, are identified as UNESCO World Heritage sites. These historical routes act as ecological corridors for the dispersal of plants and animals and lead to greater biodiversity.”

Benham holds the Jon Emerson/Wayne Womack Design Professorship at the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture. His research and work focuses on landscape phenomena and the temporal qualities inherent in the discipline. To that end, he produces temporal and ephemeral installations that elucidate phenomena requiring careful observation through space and time.

He has exhibited his conceptual work throughout the world, including exhibits at the Royal Institute of British Architects, London, England; CUBE Gallery, Manchester England; Zurich, Switzerland; New Orleans, Louisiana; Scottsdale, Arizona; Sweden and Italy.

“Congratulations, Kevin! This is a well-merited honor!” said Alkis Tsolakis, dean of the College of Art & Design.

Rome Prize winners are selected annually by independent juries of distinguished artists and scholars through a national competition. The eleven disciplines supported by the Academy are: literature, music composition, visual arts, architecture, landscape architecture, design, and historic preservation and conservation, as well as ancient studies, medieval studies, Renaissance and Early Modern studies, and modern Italian studies.

Benham is one of two scholars awarded the prize in landscape architecture this year. Nationwide, 1,031 applications were received from 46 US states plus Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and 15 different countries. The ages of the winners range from 29 to 59. Winners will each receive a stipend, workspace, and room and board for a period of four to seven months at the Academy’s eleven-acre campus in Rome. Given the impact of COVID-19, the 2020–21 residential fellowship season will begin in January and end in August.

Haley Blakeman Named ASLA 2020 Fellow

Landscape Architecture, Honors & Awards, Faculty, ,

Haley BlakemanHaley Blakeman, assistant professor of landscape architecture, was named a 2020 Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). ASLA has elevated 19 members as Fellows this year “for their exceptional contributions to the landscape architecture profession and society at large,” according to the ASLA.

Election to the ASLA Council of Fellows is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and is based on their works, leadership/management, knowledge, and service. Blakeman was nominated in the “Leadership/Management” category by the ASLA Louisiana Chapter, for her meaningful career in landscape architecture.

Blakeman has spent her career advancing the profession at every level: community, city, state, and national. During her ten years in leadership roles at the Center for Planning Excellence—a nonprofit honored with ASLA’s 2009 Olmsted Award—she dedicated her work to resiliency in climate change.

In Louisiana, she has led essential work in over 25 communities. She developed policies and implementation projects advancing complete streets, from the city of Covington to impoverished, rural Madison Parish. She was instrumental in making World Landscape Architecture Month a global initiative. Blakeman’s service to the profession and ASLA for over twenty years, especially in her position as vice president of communications, has amplified the profession’s collective voice.

“Now as the Suzanne L. Turner Assistant Professor at LSU, Haley teaches students—and especially women and minorities—how to be champions for those without a voice, and about the critical role that landscape architects can play in mission-driven work,” the ASLA stated in the Fellow announcement.

Blakeman has a progressive view of the role of landscape architects as community leaders. She “is passionate about providing opportunities for civic engagement, strengthening neighborhoods, empowering residents to improve their environment, and fostering incremental shifts that add up to big changes,” she said.

“Congratulations Haley for being nominated by the LA Chapter of ASLA and being selected as one of the ASLA 2020 Council of Fellows. It is quite a rigorous process,” said Bruce Sharky, professor of landscape architecture.

She was recognized as one of Baton Rouge Business Report‘s “Forty Under 40.”

LSU Photography and Landscape Architecture Students Document Baton Rouge Neighborhoods for Historic Preservation

Students, Landscape Architecture, Honors & Awards, Art, Photography, , , ,

Interdisciplinary collaboration is a key aspect of LSU art & design faculty research, and now student curriculum, with numerous courses offered that span across disciplines.

Johanna Warwick, assistant professor of photography, collaborated with landscape architecture assistant professor Nicholas Serrano to teach the course ART 4941 Special Topics: Photography & Preservation in spring 2020. The course is a direct result of Warwick’s work The Bottom, a photography series investigation of the historic neighborhood Old South Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Assistant professor Serrano saw her lecture about the project in Greenville, SC in fall 2019 and the two proposed a collaborative course focused on the relationship of photography in preservation.

“Seeing my work through the lens of being preservation, we became incredibly excited about the relationship between photography and conservation efforts,” Warwick said. “We built this course together with the belief and goal that our students from different disciplines would be able to educate and collaborate with different areas of expertise, for joint goals.”

The course was designed to investigate the historical role of photography in preservation, bringing together art and design students to examine the topics from different vantage points. Photography and landscape architecture students explored the topic of preservation through memorials, monuments, culture, climate and landscape. The students worked together researching and photographing sites in Baton Rouge that are on National Registers, and making recommendations for sites to be added.

“This course covers the history, theory, and practices of historic preservation, with a particular focus on the historical geographies of the American South,” Serrano said. “Students explore how to identify, investigate, and give voice to the historical narratives of spaces, places, and memories embedded in the built environment.”

For each site students worked together to conduct in-depth research and produce visual evidence. “Partners work closely with each other, sharing their knowledge, skills, and understanding so that each party feels confident in working in new ways,” he said in the course overview. “This means landscape architecture students make photographs as well, and photography students are also be conducting research.”

In future semesters, Warwick and Serrano plan for the entire class to work together to research and document the historic Plank Road neighborhood in Baton Rouge and make recommendations to the city for architecture to be preserved. “We hope to run this course again in the future and address projects that we had to postpone due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

This course contributed to the college’s goal of cross-collaboration between the School of Art and the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, merging the disciplines of art and design to work together to address issues in local communities.

Julian T. White Mural Honors LSU’s First Black Professor

Art & Design, Interior Design, Honors & Awards, Architecture, Faculty, Donors, ,
Man painting mural

Artist Robert Dafford works on Julian T. White memorial mural in the LSU Design Building. Photo by BFA candidate Micah Viccinelli.

The LSU College of Art & Design commissioned the Julian T.  White memorial mural to honor the university’s first African American professor. The college worked with The Walls Project and the White family to design the mural in the LSU Design Building atrium, installed in early 2020.

Julian White was the first black professor at LSU and the second licensed black architect in the state of Louisiana. In 1971 he joined the faculty of the LSU Department of Architecture, where he worked for 33 years. After a long successful career in education and architecture, he retired in 2003. He passed away from cancer in 2011. This year the College of Art & Design unveils the Julian T. White Atrium Mural in his honor, memorializing his incredible legacy at LSU.

“When we were thinking about how to celebrate the naming of this space, we came upon the idea of doing a mural and not just a little bronze plaque that no one would read,” said Alkis Tsolakis, Dean of the College of Art & Design. “We thought that this man’s contribution that freed and opened the doors of LSU to everyone was great enough to be commemorated in a way just as exceptional as he – and his teaching – was.”

The College of Art & Design and The Walls Project recruited muralist Robert Dafford, a master artist with nearly 500 murals completed, to paint the Julian T.  White memorial mural. Globally known for his murals, Dafford has painted in a variety of places across the United States, as well as in Canada, Belgium, France, and England.

Julian White Atrium Mural

Mural in Design Building Atrium.

The mural depicts Julian leading a procession of students and faculty through stately live oaks that evoke the LSU campus. Those following behind him are individuals of different races, men and women, people from all walks of life.  Among them walks Isiah Warner, the Boyd Professor and Philip W. West Professor of Analytical & Environmental Chemistry. The mural draws inspiration from a diverse variety of sources, from street art in New Orleans to the “Procession of the Magi” fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli at Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, Italy. The artistic aim of the mural is to portray how Julian opened the doors for all those who followed, according to the artist Dafford.

The mural serves as a testament to Professor White, symbolizing how his perseverance paved the way for racial equality at the university. “Julian White is the person that opened the doors, led the way to free LSU from segregation,” said Dean Tsolakis. “In this sense he is an icon to our community.”

“Students want to see themselves in their professors, want to believe that their dreams are attainable,” said Casey Phillips, The Walls Project Director. “When you see someone who looks like you, that you can identify with, that’s powerful. By simply being their teacher, Professor White inspired a generation of young people of different backgrounds and showed them they could achieve their goals.”

Dafford installed the mural on LSU’s campus in February-early March 2020. For the LSU students who will see the mural every day, Julian White’s impact is still being made.

Julian White mural in Design Building atrium

Julian White mural in Design Building atrium. Photo by Eddy Perez, LSU.

“This project means everything to me,” said Dean Tsolakis. “It means another step in freeing LSU and making a home for everyone. Another step in what Julian White did for LSU, for Louisiana, and for the world.”

LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio to help develop Master Plan for Baton Roots Community Farm

Students, Landscape Architecture, Community Outreach, Coastal Sustainability Studio, Architecture,

With recent support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio will partner with the nonprofit organization The Walls Project to develop a master plan for Baton Roots Community Farm, which opened last year in North Baton Rouge as a restorative landscape to support healthy lifestyles, mental welfare and environmental security.

Read more.

Alumni Spotlight: Blaire Brown Stroemple

Art, Painting & Drawing, Alumni, Alumni Profiles, ,

Blaire Brown Stroemple

Blaire Brown Stroemple

Blaire Brown Stroemple, HSS & AD 2011, combined her love of art with an entrepreneurial spirit to launch Box of Art, a business that brings people together to make art while socially distancing – in the time of COVID-19 and beyond.

Box of Art is a virtual painting party business. Blaire ships the artmaking materials and hosts a virtual painting party class conducted through Zoom. “You can order a box for yourself in Baton Rouge and a box for your best friend in Dallas and paint together for a virtual girl’s night within a week of ordering,” she explained.

Given the desire to connect socially through virtual technology in the time of social distancing, the market for online art classes has increased in recent months, and more than ever people seem to be looking for ways to try new hobbies as well.

At LSU, Blaire majored with a concentration in liberal arts and art history and a minor in studio art. “I learned the most about patience and focus in my studio classes in the art building,” she said.

Blaire reflected fondly on her time at LSU: “The design building holds many memories for me. I actually met my husband in those classes. He studied digital art. We did not know it at the time, but our friendship from Dr. Walsh’s Roman Art History class would lead to marriage.”

“After graduating, I struggled to find a traditional job that held my focus like those studio classes,” she shared. “I found myself working in the service industry. To this day, I actually enjoy waiting tables. I find it sociable and fast paced. It worked great right out of college to pay bills, but lacked the sense of ownership and satisfaction that I needed.”

She realized her passion for artmaking surpassed her other career interests. “When I finish a painting, there’s a feeling that’s hard to describe and it cannot be replaced by anything else,” she said. “I knew that I needed that feeling back in my life. I decided to start my business just selling my own artwork.”

She started her brand BlaireBrownArt. “I slowly gained commissions here and there. I actually still do house portraits for local real estate agents that were my first clients years ago. My art business slowly turned into a live painting business after I tried my hand at live event painting. I also started a small business called Palettes-N-Paint. I think of Palettes-N-Paint as the predecessor of Box of Art.”

Palettes-N-Paint is a traveling painting party business. Between booking painting parties, live paintings and commissions she reached artistic financial independence, she said. “I know that the independence and confidence I gained from LSU helped me achieve this.”

“I would actually have people ask me, ‘Well what is your actual job?’ I don’t think they realized it was a little rude. They just really did not know a career as an artist was possible.”

In 2019, she married her husband. His career in film took him on a traveling path. “He is extremely supportive of my career and encourages all my new ideas. I quickly realized I needed to reinvent my business into something mobile so we could live together even when he was on the road for work.”

Then the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe and in-person events ceased when health officials recommended social distancing. “I pushed myself to make this happen when coronavirus started. Since my ‘bread and butter’ is my live event painting business, I felt the financial burden of wedding cancellations. Instead of panicking I tried to learn from it and evolve.”

Blaire created all of the marketing material during quarantine. “I ran numbers and studied profit margins instead of gluing myself to the news. I slowly ordered my materials and before I knew it, I had the capability to run the business. I always know when I’m ready to do something because I can see it from start to finish. I saw the full circle and knew it was time.”

Paint brushes and colored paint tubes

Box of Art

Box of Art offers group and private classes for adults and kids, with themes including abstract painting, sweet tea, or unicorns. The slogan is “Paint together, miles apart.” Blaire takes pride in having evolving her businesses to meet the demands of the current world, while offering people a way to connect and find solace in making art.

To art students aspiring to make a living from their passions, Blaire encourages them to try. “Realizing that failure is ok will allow you to fearlessly try new things,” she said. “I do not believe that everyone is meant to thrive in a traditional work environment. Sometimes people need to make their own work.”

“You can have a career as an artist.”