Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Italian-inspired works by 11 current students, three alumnae and two faculty members at Mississippi State are on display Feb. 20-28 in the university’s Giles Hall gallery.

Free to all, the “Ciao! Travel ROME” exhibition features paintings, drawings and posters by 14 students from Professor Brent Funderburk’s studio course, “SKETCHBOOK: Journal for Artists, Architects + Designers,” and Professor Jamie Burwell Mixon’s studio course, “TRAVEL ROME: The Poster Image.”

Under the direction of Funderburk and Mixon, the students participated last summer in a month-long, six-credit study abroad program at the University of Arkansas Rome Center. Founded as a center for architectural studies in 1989, the center is located in the 14th century Palazzo Taverna at the heart of ancient Rome. Along with visiting art and architectural sites and museums in Rome and central Italy, the students enjoyed trips to Florence and Orvieto.

Participants include (by hometown):

BAY SAINT LOUIS—Aubrey J. Pohl, a senior art/graphic design major.

BELAIR, Maryland—Lorianna A. Livingston, a fall 2016 summa cum laude art/graphic design graduate.

BILOXI—Ian F. Green, a senior art/graphic design major.

BRANDON—Randi L. Watson, a senior art/fine arts major; and Anna R. Zollicoffer, a senior art/graphic design major.

CANTON—Daniel P. Smith, a senior architecture major.

CHELSEA, Alabama—Sarah L. Prater, a senior art/graphic design major.

FLORENCE, South Carolina—Candace B. Moreau, a fall 2016 summa cum laude computer science graduate.

HATTIESBURG—Shawna J. Williams, a senior art/fine arts and music/vocal double-major.

LUMBERTON, Texas—Samantha K. “Sami” McDougall, a senior art/graphic design major.

MADISON, Alabama—Rachel E. Patronas, a senior architecture major.

MADISON—Anna K. “Katie” Erickson, a senior art/graphic design and photography major.

OCEAN SPRINGS—Emily C. Koch, a junior art/fine arts major.

PASCAGOULA—Katherine L. “Kaylie” Mitchell, a fall 2016 art/graphic design graduate.

Also free to all, a public reception for the exhibit takes place 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday [Feb. 23] in the Giles Hall gallery at 889 Collegeview St. on the Starkville campus. Refreshments will be provided.

Exhibit hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. For more, visit bit.ly/MSUArtGalleriesFB.

For more information on the exhibit or the CAAD ROME Study Abroad Program, contact Claire Gipson, MSU assistant professor of art, at 662-325-2970 or cgipson@caad.msstate.edu.

Part of MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, the Department of Art is home to the Magnolia State’s largest undergraduate studio art program. For more, visit www.caad.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.