The WNMU Francis McCray Gallery of Contemporary art is exhibiting a retrospective of the work of Emeritus Professor of Art Cecil Howard. The exhibit, which includes pieces spanning from 1955 to 2023, focuses on collage, assemblages, painting, sculpture and ceramics, and it will be on display until October 5, 2023.
The retrospective exhibit has been in the planning stages for a long time, said Director of the McCray Gallery Jill Winburn. The idea of the retrospective exhibit came from Faye McCalmont, who was Special Assistant to the President for Cultural Affairs from 2015 to 2020. “She had a number of exhibits planned when COVID hit,” said Winburn. Those exhibits were all delayed, and the retrospective of Howard’s work is the last of a series of pandemic-delayed gallery offerings.
Expressive Arts major and McCray Gallery assistant Jasper Eyrich-Bingham, who helped install the exhibit and attended the exhibit’s opening, found the exhibit inspiring. “What inspires me about Cecil Howard’s artwork,” said Eyrich Bingham, “is how diverse it is in both the sensibilities and use of materials. When moving forward into the B.F.A program at Western New Mexico University, I have felt more and more pressure to hunker down and focus on one medium over another. Seeing Cecil’s work reminds me that I can and should continue to experiment with many different mediums, all the while building a sophisticated and successful portfolio.”
Eyrich-Bingham said that one of Howard’s pieces especially stood out to him, a sculpture called “The Denizen.” “When it was being described to me,” he said, “I expected something large but something with a lighter visual weight like many of Cecil’s other wooden sculptures. I was shocked to see something so visually heavy, intimidating, and of such a different sensibility than the rest of the sculptures in the exhibition.”
Howard said that the diversity of his work is in part a result of his teaching. “The diversity of my work over such a time period in so many styles and media was the result of my teaching ceramics, painting, sculpture, drawing and art history as well as my personal interest in exploring a wide range of fields of art. I was pleased and somewhat surprised to see pieces created years apart together for the first time.”
Howard appreciated the work done by the McCray Gallery to bring the exhibition together. “I am very pleased with the presentation of my work of 60 years in the gallery and think the director and staff did a fine job,” he said.
In addition to teaching at WNMU, Howard was the manager of the McCray Gallery for over thirty years, and he oversaw the expansion of the gallery space during that time, said Director of the McCray Gallery Jill Winburn. Winburn continues to draw on his experience, especially regarding the items in the university’s permanent collection of art. “He was really pivotal in getting a lot of pieces of art during his time here,” she said, “He has been a fountain of information for us.”