New at Meridian Museum of Art …
Artwork by Bethanne Hill &Joy Kloman

By Staff
Hill and her husband, Darius (also an artist and chairman of the Art Department at the Alabama School of Fine Arts) have two daughters, Olivia and Esme. A third child, a son named Atticus, was born this month. Her hobbies are traveling on back roads, bluegrass music and attending Sacred Harp singings.
Joy Kloman
Joy Kloman is a figurative artist, often sketching from the human figure. She describes her works as "social commentaries on gender separation and the effects that advertising in the media has on our everyday life."
The shoe is a recurring theme in her paintings "from patent leather Mary Jane shoes symbolizing girlhood, to dance steps representative of life's journey, to desirous commodities."
After having her wallet stolen in a supposedly "safe" environment, Kloman realized the greatness of her attachment to material items.
Before the series, Kloman depicted objects in her paintings to represent the female figure.
In her "Shoe Fetish" series, the shoes are paltry, binding and confinin
The importance of scale
Kloman said the paintings are often about the size of an adult person, to create the feeling that one could crawl into the items.
A recent artist residency in Budapest/Balatonfured, Hungary, inspired a new dimension to her work.
Kloman's background
Kloman is an assistant professor of art at the University of Mississippi, where she has taught painting and drawing to graduate and undergraduate students since 2000.
Kloman earned a master's degree in fine arts from the University of Florida and a bachelor's degree from the Kansas City Art Institute. Her most recent accomplishments include two summer research grants from the University of Mississippi and an international residency in Budapest/Balatonfured, Hungary.
Kloman's paintings can be viewed in the permanent collections of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Fla., and the Gulf Coast Museum of Art in Belleair, Fla.
Want to go?
What: Opening reception for exhibits of work by Bethanne Hill and Joy Kloman
When: Sept. 11, from 6-8 p.m.
Where: Meridian Museum of Art, 628 25th Ave.
Admission: Free
If you can't make it: The exhibits will be on display Sept. 4-Oct. 9.
Information: Call 693-1501 or e-mail MeridianMuseum@aol.com.