Blaine Whisenhunt, Partner at Arkifex Studios and Associate Professor of Art at Drury University, will give a Paula G. Manship Endowed lecture to the LSU College of Art & Design on Monday, April 8 at 4 p.m. in 103 Julian T. White Hall.

Blaine Whisenhunt graduated with an MFA from LSU in 2000. He has taught at Drury
University since 2004 and has been a Principal at the architecture firm Arkifex Studios since 2014.

Whisenhunt’s expansive creative career defies conventional boundaries, deliberately adopting a multidisciplinary approach. As an acclaimed artist, designer, musician, and educator, his career intricately weaves the influences of his rural upbringing with the academic realms of contemporary art and architecture.

At the heart of Blaine’s creative ethos lies his distinctive approach to architecture and design ideation, positioned between Faulkner’s rural modernism and Frampton’s critical regionalism—a concept he terms “Ozark Modernism.” The resulting aesthetic endeavors to articulate a contemporary design language that resonates with the unique urban/rural identity of the modern Ozarks.

In his upcoming lecture, titled “Ozark Modernism: A Multidisciplinary Methodology,” Whisenhunt delves into the roots of his artistic evolution, cultivated during his time at LSU. Presenting selected works from his firm, Arkifex Studios, the lecture promises an in-depth exploration of Ozark Modernism, unveiling its pivotal role and illustrating how the paradoxes and tensions within the Ozarks propel an authentic, multidisciplinary, and transformative design practice.

You can find out more about his work with Arkifex Studios here: www.arkifexstudios.com.