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“There's a certain time in your career when you have
the desire to give back — to share what you may know," says
Radcliffe Bailey, an artist whose works adorn the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, and the Smithsonian
Institute, among many others. "The University of Georgia
is giving me that opportunity."
Bailey teaches painting at UGA's Lamar Dodd School of Art — a
job from which he gains as much as he gives. "My students
are wonderful because they're willing to experiment, to try
things that have never been done. It's exciting to be a part
of their art and a part of their lives."
Bailey's work is famous for the vital connections it makes:
between art and life, people and the land, ancestors and
their descendants. "Growing up, I spent a lot of time
with my grandparents and great-grandparents," he says, "and
I feel like that's lost in most families today. In my art,
I try to restore some of the lost kinship between people." Bailey
is inspired by — and often uses — old family
photographs and heirlooms in his work.
"It's all about relationships," Bailey says. "Teaching
here at the University of Georgia, sharing ideas with these
bright young people, is very much in line with my style and
my philosophy of art."
Toward his students, Bailey feels a particular sense of
mission. "Artists carry a lot of insecurity," he
says. "I'm here to help them believe in themselves.
What they have to say is very important to the world."
This article also appears on the Archway to Excellence campaign
website.
Building the New Learning Environment
The new learning environment is an academic and intellectual
community on the campus of the University of Georgia humming
with the vibrancy of the true college experience—bright
and talented students working with brilliant faculty formally
in the classroom and informally over a cup of coffee or lounging
in the greenspace which stretches from one end of campus to
the other. It is a place which recognizes that new information
technologies are transforming traditional academic disciplines
and embraces those opportunities. |
Radcliffe
Bailey, an artist whose works adorn the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
the Chicago Art Institute, and the Smithsonian Institute, among many
others, teaches art at UGA.
