UNCG to Display the Artwork of Maud Gatewood

Posted on September 24, 2015

overhead photo of campus

For many students and staff on UNCG’s campus, “Gatewood” is simply the name of the university’s studio arts building, but that’s about to change.

“Maud Gatewood is one of the most significant painters to work in North Carolina in the second half of this past century,” said Dr. Lawrence Jenkens, head of UNCG’s art department. “I want everyone to understand that Maud Gatewood was more than a name on a building.”

Gatewood, who died in 2004, is known for her modern paintings that use a variety of different styles, materials and creative methods.

In order to reintroduce the UNCG community and the rest of the state to Gatewood’s work, Jenkens organized the Maud Gatewood Trail ­– an exhibition of her paintings spanning from Wilmington to Asheville and Charlotte to Danville, Virginia in 18 different locations.

These exhibits will be on display throughout the fall. Each institution’s exhibition schedule is different and may vary from location to location.

UNCG’s exhibit will be on display from Sept. 24 to Nov. 8. Gatewood’s artwork will be on display at the art department gallery in the Gatewood Building and the Weatherspoon Art Museum. Her sketches and letters will be on display at Jackson Library’s special collections.

At UNCG, the exhibition opens on Thursday, Sept. 24 with a lecture from Will South, chief curator of the Columbia Museum of Art and former curator of collections for Weatherspoon Art Museum. South’s lecture, titled “The Original Maud: The Life and Legacy of Maud Gatewood,” will be at 4 p.m. in the Weatherspoon Art Museum auditorium and will discuss his interactions with Gatewood and his knowledge of her work. The lecture will be followed by an opening reception from 5:30-7 p.m. in UNCG’s art department gallery lobby.

On Oct. 1, William R. Ferris, eminent professor of history at UNC Chapel Hill, and Joel R. Williamson, senior associate director for the Center for the Study of the American South, will give a presentation titled “Maud Gatewood: Artistic Voice of the South” in Weatherspoon Auditorium at 5:30 p.m. The lecture will be followed by a reception and book signing in the Art Department Gallery of the Gatewood Studio Arts Department.

Two weeks later, the university’s art department will host “Building on Maud’s Legacy: Place and Being an Artist,” featuring visiting artists and bloggers Sharon Butler of New York, New York and Brett Baker of Durham. This event will take place Oct. 15 in the Weatherspoon Art Museum Auditorium at 6 p.m.

Gatewood’s artwork will be on display at the following locations:

  • Asheville Art Museum, Asheville
  • Mint Museum, Charlotte
  • UNC Charlotte, Charlotte
  • UNCC City Center, Charlotte
  • Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem
  • Guilford College, Greensboro
  • UNCG’s Art Department Gallery, Greensboro
  • UNCG’s Special Collections at Jackson Library in Greensboro
  • Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro
  • Averett University, Danville, VA
  • Danville Museum of Art in Danville, VA
  • Caswell County Historical Association, Yanceyville
  • Yanceyville Museum of Art, Yanceyville
  • Elon University, Elon
  • North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh
  • Meredith College, Raleigh
  • Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville
  • Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington.

Gatewood graduated from Woman’s College, now called UNCG, in 1954. She went on to get her master’s degree from Ohio State University and studied under painter Oskar Kokoschka in Austria. She taught at Averett University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

More information about the Maud Gatewood Trail or UNCG’s exhibition and events can be found here.

Story by Jeanie Groh, University Relations

Reposted from UNCG Now

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