Exhibitions
ETSU BFA STUDIO ART
Slocumb Galleries (ETSU) / 232 Sherrod Dr., Johnson City, TN November 3 - 21st (Reception: November 14 5:00pm - 7:00pm)
Rachael Curde, Alison Maddux, Abigail Robinson, Sarah Reagan, Stella Rodenderg, Blake San
The ETSU Department of Art & Design and Slocumb Galleries present six BFA Studio Art Senior Exhibitions Rachael Curde, Alison Maddux, Abigail Robinson, and Sarah Reagan from November 3 to 14, 2025, with closing reception on November 14, Friday from 5 to 7 pm; followed by Stella Rodenderg and Blake San from November 17 to 21, with reception on November 20, Thursday, 5 to 7 pm, all at the Slocumb Galleries.
I DON’T KNOW! by Rachael Curde is an exhibition of her body of work that aims to express the less-desirable parts of her inner narrative through surreal, absurd and humorous self-portraiture. Rachael Curde is an artist based in and native to East Tennessee. Her creative practice spans multiple mediums, but currently focuses on silkscreen printmaking. Leaning into the strengths of the silkscreen process, she utilizes her style of well defined, graphic mark-making over bold planes of harmonious color to create cartoon-like scenes that speak to her experience in the quest for selfhood.
Remember That You Are Dust by Alison Maddux, a printmaker and ceramic artist based in Johnson City, TN. Her current work explores memento mori, reminders of mortality, as seen through nature’s cycles of life and death. Having lived in diverse places across the country and drawing on her experiences as a gardener, Alison uses flowers and plants in her art to evoke memories of times and places. Her BFA Senior Exhibition, Remember That You Are Dust, features silkscreen floral prints paired with handmade frames and ceramic objects that reflect these themes.
Sarah Reagan is an illustrator and painter based in Dunlap, TN. As of late, she has been investigating the underlying fears of mankind that fuel popular monsters from folklore internationally. A fan of the film subgenre “bubblegum horror,” Reagan takes from the genre’s use of vivid color and delicate linework that juxtaposes the grim realities of growing up as a woman to highlight how creatures like werewolves and ghosts have shifted from being demonized to romanticized in pop culture. The Monsters We Made, her BFA senior exhibition, includes works in oil, gouache, and colored pencil ranging from lush forest scenes to tight-spaced interiors bathed in color and providing passage for these monsters.
Abigail Robinson is a painter based in Johnson city, TN. She works with oil and gouache paint, painting interior and exterior space. If she is not in her room painting, she is spending time with the things that inspire her most, which are her cats, hiking, or enjoying a hot cup of coffee. She will have her first exhibition in Slocumb Galleries this November featuring her art about the people, places, and pets that are important in her life.
Interdisciplinary artist Stella Rodenberg will be displaying a mixed media fiber installation entitled The Body Holds Its Shape. Rodenberg has long been fascinated with ecology, and the natural world, and was thrilled to learn that she was a mammal. The Body Holds Its Shape is an installation examining relationships with our bodies, and roles in the natural world, using recycled materials. Through soft sculptures, garments, and a condemned dollhouse, she hopes to inspire the kind of morbid curiosity that made one poke carcasses with a stick as a child. Stella Rodenberg is a multidisciplinary artist and illustrator. She was homeschooled on a small goat farm in Southern Indiana. Her work explores fantasy, mythology, humanity, and these subjects intersections with nature. She aims to define these intersections, and negate the boundaries of these definitions. She will be graduating from East Tennessee State University in December, 2025, with honors. She received a people's choice award in 2019 for the Melvin Peterson Gallery’s annual student showcase in Evansville Indiana, was featured in the Hollerhouse community spotlight in 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee, and received the award for fiber arts category in the 2nd Mary & Jim Martin Student Juried Art Exhibition 2025.
Blake Alexandra San is an oil painter and ceramic artist born in Miami, Florida, and now based in the mountains of East Tennessee. As a child, she spent hours exploring her backyard, guided by curiosity and whimsy—digging in the dirt for roly-poly bugs, picking fruit from orange and banana trees, and finding shade beneath a canopy of bougainvillea. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at East Tennessee State University, where she will graduate in Fall 2025. Her work has been included in several juried group exhibitions, and she has received multiple merit-based scholarships in recognition of her artistic achievements. Blake’s current body of work centers on oil paintings depicting vast accumulations of shells, symbolic of memories and experiences gathered over time. In her ceramics, she draws from the same imagery, transforming the textures and forms of shells into vessels that echo fragments of natural armor.
The Slocumb Galleries are located at Ernest C. Ball Hall, 232 Sherrod Drive, ETSU campus with viewing hours on weekdays from 11am to 5 pm with extended hours during receptions and by appointments. For more information, scheduled visit or handicapped accommodations, please email Karlota Contreras-Koterbay via contrera@etsu.edu.
