Montreat College to host exhibition by professor Jim Southerland

Montreat College will host an exhibit by longtime professor Jim Southerland titled “Southerland Art: Seeing Things Backward Since 1978” from Sept. 13 - Nov. 16.

The exhibit will be on display in the Hamilton Gallery, which is located on the second floor of the college’s L. Nelson Bell Library.

There will be two artist receptions on Sept. 13. One from 12-1:30 p.m. and another from 6-7:30 p.m.

"Many people at Montreat who know Jim as a dedicated teacher may not be aware that he is also an accomplished and critically-acclaimed artist,” says Hamilton Gallery Curator and Montreat College Associate Professor of Communication Dr. Joseph Martin. “This new exhibition documenting his creative gifts seems like a perfect event to help inaugurate the college's new Fine & Performing Arts Department. The Hamilton Gallery is excited to be able to invite both the campus and the wider community to a wonderful show."

The exhibit will feature over 35 works created by Prof. Southerland using his unique “camera obscura” method, which he initially invented in 1978 as a way draw portraits of children.

Over four decades, he has applied the process to other media, as well, and this exhibit will feature landscapes and a few fascinating still lifes in addition to one portrait.

Professor Southerland has taught art at Montreat College for 30 years.

The college is proud to celebrate both his art and the wonderfully strong recovery he has experienced following a disastrous heart attack which resulted in heart transplant surgery in Jan. 2015.

The exhibit is a celebration of both his life and his faithful pursuit of his calling and career.