Brenau University

By Michael Kleeman The Brenau chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers visited the beautiful Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, on Dec. 6. The ten students who made the trip — which was not only to study history but also celebrate another successful semester — toured the estate, house and grounds that were […]

Digital Graphic Design at Brenau University is open to any major as part of the liberal education curriculum. This course (GR 207) and the corresponding lab (GR207L) are an option for students looking to fulfil their Communications portal requirements. The reason for inclusion in the Communications track rather than Fine Arts is because of the […]

By Madia Cooper-Ashirifi The Brenau University Department of Dance transitioned back into the rigors of a daily groove this fall with widely attended in-person performances, robust rehearsals and classes, guest artists, and community outreach. The department also welcomed 16 first-year students from all over the eastern U.S.  The department was invited for a great opportunity […]

Though in singer’s masks, the ensembles of Brenau University’s Department of Music opened the doors to our community with successful live performances in fall of 2021. The Vocal Chamber Ensemble opened our fall concert series with the first live public performance in the Redwine Lobby of the Burd Center for the Performing Arts since February […]

Encouraged by an independent, educationally oriented mother, Anna Elizabeth Klumpke was a copyist in the Luxembourg Museum and studied at the Académie Julien in Paris. She enjoyed an education guided by the concept that women artists could compete with their male counterparts.  In her memoirs of 1940, Klumpke cites a most influential moment in her […]

In November, the Brenau University Historic Clothing Collection added a large donation of exhibition materials from Lori J. Durante and the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History in Delray Beach, Florida.  Charity Armstead, fashion merchandising program director and assistant professor, applied for this donation through the Costume Society of America and was delighted for Brenau […]

by Nichole Ferguson Brenau University highlighted Central America and the Caribbean during the university’s annual International Week from Nov. 15-18, 2021. There is currently a cohort of 16 Panamanian students on campus pursuing degrees in various fields, made possible through a partnership between Brenau University and the Panamanian government. These students played a big part in […]

by Charity Armstead We are currently at work in the historic collection expanding into additional storage space and continuing an inventory of the collection. As we work to digitize all the old paper records from the collection, we are uncovering gorgeous pieces. The oldest piece that we’ve located in the collection so far is this […]

by Nichole Ferguson When you think of Brenau Galleries, you may think of our three rotating exhibition spaces on the historic Gainesville campus. These galleries — Sellars, Presidents and Castelli — host public art exhibitions throughout the year. Sometimes these shows are curated from our Permanent Art Collection, but more typically they feature artwork on loan […]

by Claudia Wilburn The Center for the Arts & Design would like to welcome Andrea Skillings to the team as a new assistant professor of fashion. Skillings has rich experience in merchandising and product development that is backed by a Master of Arts in Decorative Arts and Design from Parsons School of Design in The New […]

 by Jill DeMarotta This summer, six Brenau University interior design majors interned at professional interior design firms across the greater Atlanta area, working at least 180 hours with their respective firms.  The internships were a great way for the students to observe professional practices in a particular design specialization, including residential, hospitality, commercial, retail and health […]

by Dr. Barbara Steinhaus The opening of fall 2021 classes in the Department of Music allows for a bit of reflection and a look ahead.  This past summer, Ashley Conway, director of ensembles and coordinator of music education, was a speaker at the American Choral Directors Association conference, a combined virtual event for participants in Maryland, Washington, D.C., […]

by Madia Cooper-Ashirifi Despite the many challenges of the past year, Brenau University’s Department of Dance has continued to think big. As live performances across the country dwindled, the department forged ahead, progressively rethinking performances and collaborations with the Gainesville community to support and showcase Brenau’s dance majors. The dance faculty concluded that the pandemic […]

by Huy Chu and Claudia Wilburn In February 2021, the Center for the Arts & Design hosted Tiger Toons, a virtual learning experience that included interviews with several members of the professional animation community. On the heels of that successful event, the Brenau University Art & Design Department acquired new industry standard animation software, Storyboard […]

Howardena Pindell is an American mixed media artist and painter trained at Boston and Yale universities. She is known for exploring processes through her artmaking, utilizing unique textures, colors and compositional structures across her media. Much of Pindell’s work is political, addressing racism, feminism, slavery and exploitation. In 1972, Pindell co-founded the first artist-directed gallery […]

Music studies have been a formal part of the curriculum at Brenau since Brenau College Conservatory was established as two separate institutions: a college for the education of women and a conservatory of music, art, oratory and “kindred subjects” in 1906. Following a devastating tornado in 1936, Brenau College and the conservatory merged, allowing for […]

by Polly Evans-Thomas The annual Brenau University student fashion show, hosted by the Center for the Arts & Design, returned in 2021 with collections from current students and recent graduates. The show was filmed over a week and was presented during the Brenau Collaborative in April. CAD hopes to bring audiences back for the 2022 […]

by Nichole Ferguson This spring, the Brenau University Galleries embarked on a new programming adventure: Instagram Live. COVID-19 brought many challenges and pivots for the 2020-2021 exhibition season, and one thing that developed to support remote community engagement was a Brenau Galleries Instagram account. With over 650 followers at the time of writing, the Instagram […]

by Michael Lowe The Brenau University Department of Dance presented a virtual senior thesis, faculty and guest artist concert April 8-10. The event, Panorama, featured nightly performances streamed live from Brenau’s Pearce Auditorium on YouTube and Facebook.  The concert showcased performances choreographed by Brenau seniors Shania McAmis, Gracie Metcalf, Lauren Rathmann and Dejah Williams, as […]

Brenau University recently announced the addition of its Music and Dance departments to the Center for the Arts & Design, an interdisciplinary initiative promoting the university’s highly regarded art and design programs through student-centered education and community outreach. CAD launched in spring 2018 as a collaboration of Brenau’s Art & Design Department — which includes […]