UC Clermont Art Professor Holds 'Sure Shelter' Art Exhibition at Xavier

UC Clermont College Professor of Fine Art Kelly Murray Frigard’s show “Sure Shelter,” a series of watercolor pencil, pen and ink and encaustic drawings, is being exhibited at Xavier University’s Gallagher Student Center Gallery through May 31, 2016.

This exhibition is a series of drawings of 24 dogs and one cat, all of whom have been rescued from local animal shelters or picked up as strays by their owners. 

This show explores how animals help humans form bridges and seek relationships of connection. The series of drawings reveals the sensitive nature of animals and our human bonds to them.  “Sure Shelter” seeks to question the positions of both the rescued and the rescuer as transformative roles which encourage empathy and compassion for both creatures and humans alike.

All proceeds from this show will be donated to the local rescue non-profit organization in Clermont County, All Dogs Come from Heaven, for the protection and aid of animals. Her goal is to raise $500. Frigard adopted her own dog from this organization nearly five years ago.  

“The title, ‘Sure Shelter,’ comes from the concept of friendship as a type of shelter expressed by many artists, writers and poets including the biblical passage from Ecclesiastes, ‘A true friend is a sure shelter…  He who has found one has found a treasure,’” said Frigard.  

“There is one large image of a cat in this exhibition, Snow, who I found as a homeless animal in New Richmond, where I live, a few weeks after my sister died from advanced stage breast cancer. Snow came into my life at a time of great sorrow, and she has been a blessing in my life since then. Snow, like my late brother, is deaf and has a unique way of communicating. For whatever reason, I believe that she was sent to me as gift from both of my late siblings, Beth and Ryan,” said Frigard.

Frigard received her Master's of Fine Arts degree in Inter media art from the University of Iowa in 1996. She has traveled widely to northern climates pursuing her interest in traditional art forms including weaving, knitting, spinning wool, and felting. As a visiting artist in the arctic region of the Northwest Territories, she worked with an Inuit women’s sewing co-operative and learned how to work with seal and caribou skins. She received a Fulbright Fellowship to study traditional textiles in Sweden for two years at Saterglantan Hemslojdens gard in Insjon and Handarbetets Vanner in Stockholm and Jurva College of Arts and Crafts in Finland. In addition to her work in fiber, Frigard’s work includes mixed media, metalsmithing, and drawing. She teaches studio art and art history and is co-coordinator of the Fine Arts Area at UC Clermont College. Frigard exhibits her work nationally and internationally.  

In addition to the exhibition at Xavier University, Frigard will be offering a drawing class on pet portraiture at Racine Art museum’s, Wustum museum, with artist and Professor Neale Murray of North Park University on Saturday, April 2, 2016. “Sure Shelter,” will also be traveling to Thomas More College art gallery later this year.