BHSU art professor exhibits ‘Saints and Stuffies’ artwork at North Idaho College

porter print

Black Hills State University art professor Ann Porter will exhibit her "Saints and Stuffies" artwork at North Idaho College. The exhibition opens Sept. 6 and will be open to the public until Nov. 4.

Black Hills State University art professor Ann Porter will exhibit her "Saints and Stuffies" artwork at North Idaho College in the Boswell Hall Corner Gallery. The exhibition opens Sept. 6 and will be open to the public until Nov. 4.

Ann Porter, art professor at BHSU and author of the exhibition, introduced her passion for animals during her Geek Speak lecture held in January 2016 on the BHSU campus. The Geek Speak lecture series, sponsored by the BHSU University Honors program, features academic discussion and topics not normally discussed in the traditional classroom. With her Geek Speak lecture in spring of 2016, Porter showed how animals have been used in artwork for centuries.

Porter uses animals for inspiration in her own artwork, as well as throughout her art courses at BHSU. For the 'Saints and Stuffies' exhibit, Porter draws plush toys in charcoal. According to Porter, the charcoal suggests the passage of time--it has weight, it has value and it has intimacy.

"I see plush toys as the stuff of memory, the half-remembered crib fantasies, and the childhood dramas. For many of us, they were the first experience with our fellow creatures--alive or not, they were real," says Porter.

Porter worked on her exhibition for three years, and the Geek Speak at BHSU was a big part of her work.

"I will be giving another version of that talk when I go to North Idaho College," adds Porter.

Locals in the Black Hills area can see Porter's artwork on display at the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City as part of the Governor's 7th Biennial Art Exhibition and at the BHSU Faculty Show in the Ruddell Gallery in Spearfish.

The BHSU Faculty Show will open Sept. 6 and close Oct. 7 and will display art works from nine BHSU faculty members, including Porter.