Society for Photographic Education South Central Region
Conference and Exhibition
EMBRACING CHANGE is the title of the 2021 Society for Photographic Education’s South Central Regional Conference (SPESC). This year’s conference will explore the rapid changes in photographic practice, relating to web, video, performance, installation, and interactive environments.
About
This hybrid conference will invite participants to share strategies and innovative perspectives for addressing the continuing rapid changes in photographic practice, relating to web, video, performance, installation, and interactive environments. Through dialogue and exchange, the aim is to foster an understanding of the connections shared by creative professionals and scholars working in areas such as contemporary art, social media, commercial photography, video, and education. This hybrid conference will be comp0sed of both virtual and in-person events.
The unexpected, the emergent, and the transitory serve as beacons in this shifting landscape, paving new avenues for discovery as well as career opportunities. The goal of our discussions is to provide guideposts for navigating the future for the student, professional, artist, scholar, and educator.
Conference Schedule
View the Conference Schedule in PDF format
Friday, October 29 – Saturday, October 30, 2021
Friday, October 29
Virtual Portfolio reviews: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Virtual panels/presentations conducted via Zoom
9 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.
Artist Talk: Libby Rowe
“Taming the Chaotic Mind”
10 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.
Presentation: Nitashia Johnson
“How to Amplify Your Photography Through Storytelling.”
11 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.
Virtual Chapter Meeting
12 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.
Virtual lunch gathering
1 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.
Presentation: Mona Bozorgi
“Photography and Nonhuman Agency”
2 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.
Artist Talk: Kaitlyn Smith
“Lights Out”
3 p.m – 4:20 p.m.
Panel Talk: Lindsay Godin
“Where Does Photography Curricula Go From Here? Exploring Current Changes and Demands in Higher Education”
Chair:
Lindsay Godin, Valdosta State University, GA (SPE-SE)
Presenters:
Tracy Longley-Cook, Wright State University, OH (SPE-MW)
Christopher Kern, California Baptist University, CA (SPE-W)
Sarah Cusimano Miles, Jacksonville State University, AL (SPE-SC)
Elena Volkova, Stevenson University, MA (SPE-MA)
Scott Hinton, University of Nevada Reno, NV (SPE-W)
Rafael Goldchain, Sheridan College, ON (Ontario Canada)
4:30 p.m. – 5:20 p.m.
Presentation: Jennifer Robison
“Iridescence: Making specialized education tools across disciplines”
Saturday, October 30
Virtual Portfolio reviews: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Virtual panels/presentations conducted via Zoom
9 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.
Presentation: Jessica Ingle
“Reframing Texas Art: Photography in the Lone Star State”
10 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.
Artist Talk/Presentation: Jessica Just and Gabi Magaly
“They say you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar: re-examining and breaking tradition”
11 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.
Artist Talk/Presentation: Prince Thomas
“The Spectacular Society”
12 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.
Virtual lunch gathering
1 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.
Artist Talk: Richard Sharum
“Campesino Cuba”
2 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.
Artist Talk: Tara Lyon
“Lights Out”
3 p.m – 3:50 p.m.
Presentation: Diane Durant
“New Acquisitions from the Comer Collection”
In-person on-campus events at The University of Texas at Dallas
4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
SP/N Gallery Reception
SPE Member Exhibition juried by Christopher Blay
SPESC Student Exhibition
SP/N Gallery on Google Maps | Information about SP/N Gallery
7 p.m.
Keynote Speaker Lecture: Letitia Huckaby
“Letitia Huckaby: a Metamorphosis”
Jonsson Performance Hall, UT Dallas
Jonsson Performance Hall on the campus map | Parking, maps, and directions
This keynote lecture was recorded and is available via YouTube.
Exhibition
Friday, October 15 – Saturday, November 13, 2021
SPE Juried Member Exhibition
juried by Christopher Blay
SPESC Student Exhibition
Phone Number
972-883-2970
Hours
Tues, Wed, and Sat: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Thurs and Fri: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Sun and Mon: Closed
Juror
Christopher Blay
is the Chief Curator of the Houston Museum of African American Culture. The artist, writer, and curator was the News Editor at Glasstire Magazine from 2019 – 2021 and served as curator of the Art Corridor Galleries at Tarrant County College, Southeast for the ten years prior to Glasstire. As a juror, Blay served on panels for the Nasher Sculpture Center, Southern Methodist University Meadows Museum’s Moss/Chumley award, Big Medium’s Tito’s Prize, as well as numerous University gallery exhibitions including the recent student exhibitions at Texas State University in San Marcos.
Blay has used photography, video, sculpture, and performance in his numerous exhibitions, which consider the Black experience in America. The former Carter Community Artist has also received a Nasher Sculpture Center Microgrant, as well as The Otis and Velma Davis Dozier travel grant from the Dallas Museum of Art. His public works include the ongoing East Rosedale Monument Project in Fort Worth, Texas, and Dindi (for Annibel) in Dallas’ Coombs Creek park near Oak Cliff. Blay is a 2003 Graduate of Texas Christian University with a BFA in Photography with a minor in Art History.
Keynote Speaker
Letitia Huckaby
Letitia Huckaby has a degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma, a BFA from the Art Institute of Boston in photography and her Master’s degree from the University of North Texas in Denton. Huckaby has exhibited as an emerging artist at Phillips New York, the Tyler Museum of Art, The Studio School of Harlem, the Camden Palace Hotel in Cork City, Ireland, and the Texas Biennial at Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum.
Her work is included in several prestigious collections; the Library of Congress, the McNay Art Museum, the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, and the Samella Lewis Contemporary Art Collection at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Huckaby was a featured artist in MAP2020: The Further We Roll, The More We Gain at the Amon Carter Museum and State of the Art 2020 at The Momentary and Crystal Bridges Museum, both opened in the spring of 2020. Huckaby was also a Fall 2020 Artist in Residence at ArtPace.
Keynote Lecture
“Letitia Huckaby: a Metamorphosis”
Saturday, October 30, 7 p.m.
Jonsson Performance Hall at UT Dallas
This keynote lecture was recorded and is available virtually via YouTube.
The basic premise behind Letitia Huckaby’s work is faith, family and legacy. It is a time capsule for the African-American experience. A photographer at heart, each piece starts with an image and progresses from there to morph into dresses, quilts, or framed quilt tops. Huckaby loves to push the boundaries of photography, looking at how the past relates to the present, and whether things have changed or remain the same. There is always a history built into the pieces, whether through process or actual materials. Images are printed onto cotton fabric, hand-stitched together or framed in embroidery hoops. Huckaby uses a traditional practice in an untraditional way, creating a new visual language. www.huckabystudios.com
SPE South Central Chapter
Website: https://www.spenational.org/chapters/southcentral
Conference Hotel (for those needing accommodations): Hyatt Regency North Dallas, 701 E Campbell Rd, Richardson, TX, 75081
Chapter Conference Committee: Marilyn Waligore, Diane Durant, Anna Fritzel, Emily Loving, Daniel Martinez, Cynthia Miller, Marcy Palmer, Ariel Wilson
South Central Chapter Chair: Diane Durant
Contact
Marilyn Waligore, Chair of 2021 SPE South Central Regional Conference, 972-883-2001, spesc2021@gmail.com
Special Thanks
We greatly appreciate the support from our SPESC 2021 Conference Cornerstone Sponsors
