Makalyn Cowley

Writer

Mississippi University for Women’s Summer Hall is a haven for students interested in

many mediums of art.

Painting, photography, ceramics and many other artistic opportunities are made possible

for students through the availability of equipment, tools and space.

Shawn Dickey, a W alum and professor of photography, spent most of his time in

Summer Hall as an undergraduate. Dickey recalls the building as a student and his early years of

teaching as quite different, but photography facilities were still offered.

“So, we shared with communication. We were actually on the second floor in the back we

had a full dark room and a lighting studio,” Dickey said.

Dickey also shared that The W’s arts found another home in Shattuck Hall following the

devasting 2002 tornado that damaged The W’s campus and left the Art department without a

home.

Renovations and repairs to the Art building were completed in 2009. Since then, the

building has been rededicated in honor of Eugenia Summer in 2017.

Originally constructed in 1960, and designed by Dr. Ralph Hudson, Summer Hall was the

first building in the state of Mississippi built for art instruction. In 2018, the main art gallery was

named after Hudson in honor of his vision and what he did for art at The W.

Summer Hall houses many studios for different artistic ambitions such as a portrait

studio, dark room, ceramics studio, woodshop, drawing and painting studios and more.

Ella Bowen, a senior photography and screen-printing student, combines two mediums

for most of her work. This means that she uses Summer Hall’s studios constantly.

“I work with my photographs and screen-printing together, so I mostly use the photo

room because of editing and putting it together then printing the transparencies,” Bowen said.

Bowen detailed that the portrait studio is where students take photos with a backdrop and

lighting, which is set up like a professional studio. Besides using the studio for upcoming works,

Bowen also uses the dark room and the photo room.

Film photography is a medium that has lost popularity in the world as society progresses

more toward digital versions of art, photography and videography.

Even though physical film is not as popular as it has been, Dickey sees its importance as

he described it as a head-and-heart collaboration. He is proud that The W still has the will and

way to keep film photography alive for students.

“With film photography, you are slowed down. You are focused on the moment,

capturing the picture is really important now as opposed to the millions of photographs that are

taken every day on smartphones,” Dickey said.

Much like developing film, ceramics is very hands-on. Justin Hampton, an Art student

specializing in ceramics, knows first-hand that the ceramics studio and the FabLab in Summer

Hall are well-equipped for the students.

“The ceramics room has tons of wheels for wheel throwing, a lot of tools also for carving

the clay, and we have an array of glazes, and we are making more,” Hampton said.

Art students use these facilities to gain useful experience toward their degrees, and for

Hampton, it was a deciding factor in his enrollment at The W.

Dickey said that Art students extend their work outside of the classroom to further their

experience and work. Even though the paths of doing art are unconventional, Dickey finds it to

be a rewarding job.

“We spend a whole lot of time outside of class. We might not buy giant books like

everyone else has to, but it’s a lot of work to be an artist,” Dickey said.