Michael Ray Charles
The international “FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Social & Politically Engaged Art” at East Tennessee State University’s Reece Museum continues to represent the spirit of social and political movements of the country and world. The 2021 exhibition, which runs Oct. 4 - Dec. 10, will present a special award to an artist whose work reflects the “Protection of Voting Rights” movement. The 2021 juror is Michael Ray Charles, a contemporary American painter and Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Painting at the University of Houston’s School of Art. Charles was a participant in the PBS series titled “Art21,” and his work explores historic African American stereotypes from the Antebellum South.
“There will be no general theme for entries except a focus on social and politically engaged artworks,” say co-directors Barb, Wayne and Carrie Dyer, who established the exhibition in memory of Fletcher Dyer, senior ETSU Art & Design student who was in a fatal motorcycle accident in 2009. “However, this year’s exhibit will especially honor “Protection of Voting Rights” and continues this year to honor “Black Lives Matter.”
The directors of the 2021 exhibit have issued their Call for Entries to artists through Aug. 23, with an extended deadline of Aug. 31 for an additional fee. A non-refundable fee of $40 is required for submission of up to three entries, with an additional $10 fee per artwork/title over three.
Artists should submit entries online or consult the prospectus, which can be found at www.FL3TCH3Rexhibit.com/downloads/prospectus.pdf.
A portion of the entry fees funds the Fletcher Hancock Dyer BFA Graphic Design Scholarship Award given annually to an ETSU Art & Design student. “As an artist and graphic designer, Fletcher’s passion for art was a vehicle that allowed him to mirror his passion and marry it to his concern for social and political issues through visual means,” says Fletcher’s mother Barb Dyer, a children’s advocacy attorney. “Fletcher was always curious and aware of current events. He experimented in innovative ways to create works that investigate contemporary social issues.
“The ‘FL3TCH3R Exhibit’ aspires to honor Fletcher’s legacy by providing a venue for artists to exhibit artworks that continue the dialogue.”
Work submitted should reflect current issues that affect contemporary culture and investigate societal and political concerns. Submissions will be accepted from the following categories audio/sound, ceramics, digital, fiber, glass, graphic design, jewelry/metals, mixed media (2D), mixed media (3D), painting, performance/installation (via video), photography, printmaking, book arts, sculpture, video/film, medical/health care and other.
Due to recent events nationwide, the Dyers have added a new award for artwork focusing on Protection of Voting Rights. “The ‘FL3TCH3R Exhibit’ is dedicated to supporting people of color after 401 years of systematic racism,” says co-director Carrie Dyer, a graphic design faculty member at High Point University in North Carolina. “The co-directors of the exhibit denounce racist structures, constructs and daily subconscious oppression especially as constitutional rights are affected. We are working and committed to a lifelong pursuit of learning about racism and working to dismantle these systems especially as they affect voting and other constitutional rights.”
An additional new award will be a celebratory award to honor the recently retired Mary B. Martin School of the Arts Director, Anita DeAngelis, and her husband, Steve Jackson Sr. both who have been ardent supporters of the Arts and of the FL3TCH3R Exhibit.
Other awards include the best-in-show awards and memorial awards, established in memory of former ETSU Art & Design Chair Jack Schrader; former ETSU Vice President of Academic Affairs and arts supporter Robert J. Alfonso; and Dorothy Carson, mother of graphic designer David Carson. Additional annual ‘FL3TCH3R’ awards include the Sammie L. Nicely Appalachian Award and the Avery Healthcare and the Arts Award.
The exhibit’s more than $1,500 in awards will be announced and presented at the exhibition reception and juror talk at ETSU’s Reece Museum, on a date still to be determined, says Fletcher’s father and retired ETSU Art & Design faculty member and Professor Emeritus M. Wayne Dyer, exhibit co-director.
For more information about Fletcher Dyer, visit http://fletcherdyer.com/about.html. For more information on The FL3TCH3R Exhibit, visit http://www.FL3TCH3Rexhibit.com For more on Reece Museum, visit www.etsu.edu/reece or call 423-439-4392.
