Bothwell’s sculpture garden is one of the most beautiful places on campus. It’s a great place to reflect and admire some of Blackburn’s students’ larger art projects. If new art appreciation adjunct faculty member Deborah Wheeler has her way, it’s about to get even more interesting.
Deborah Wheeler
Wheeler received a master’s degree in fine arts (sculpture specialization) from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s degree in fine arts (sculpture specialization) and a minor in art history from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Her website also lists some of her prior experiences and accomplishments: “[Wheeler] has exhibited nationally and internationally and has had several pieces collected by museums and galleries including Tom of Finland’s TOM House located in West Hollywood California and The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana. Along with exhibitions, Deborah has presented her work abroad in 2012 at the “Lesbian Lives” interdisciplinary conference in Dublin, Ireland and “The Erotic: Gender and Sexuality” conference at the University of Oxford.”
Bike racks from STL Artworks
Wheeler also has experience in community benefit projects including St. Louis Artworks, an art group that gives back to the community and helps future artists perfect their craft. In this program students between the ages of 14 and 21 are mentored by area artists and build bike racks, benches or any other requests completely from old bicycles and their parts. Not only do the projects benefit the regional community, but the whole process reuses bicycles that would have otherwise been thrown away.
All commissions are put together by the art apprentice
Wheeler hopes to use this community friendly, artistic experience to improve Blackburn and its campus. She said, “I’d like to do more on campus. I’d like to enlarge the sculpture garden. I’d like to put more art on campus by the means of public sculpture or public murals. I think that there needs to be more art on campus.” Wheeler also suggested that the college have students display their work in buildings to add a little more character to the campus.
Commissions are sold and displayed in public
