Lamar University will showcase the art of its alumni in its first-ever juried show for LU alumni. After School Special: The Lamar University First Juried Alumni Art Exhibition will run from June 15 to August 3. The exhibition celebrates the 35^th anniversary of the Dishman Art Museum.

The public is invited to an opening reception on Friday, June 15, from 6:30 p.m. to 8: 30 p.m., at the Dishman Art Museum, 1030 East Lavaca Street, on the Lamar University Campus. Admission and parking are free.

The Dishman Art Museum is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, visit lamar.edu/alumni-show, or lamar.edu/dishman.

The show, jurored by Lynne Lokensgard, will feature 10 alumni who earned their degrees from LU from the 1970s to as recently as 2015.

Lokensgard, who holds a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Kansas, joined the faculty of Lamar University in 1973 and retired in 2001. At LU, she taught eight undergraduate and six graduate courses in art history and taught in the Honor’s Program from 1986 to 2001. She also directed art courses with the LU Study Abroad Rome program in Italy, France and Greece, and supervised graduate theses.

Early in her tenure at LU, she began taking a leadership role as a supporter of the arts both inside and outside the classroom. Her enthusiasm for her subject benefited hundreds of students, including many who were not art majors. Paul Manes, former student and celebrated artist now living in Colorado, said, “Dr. Lokensgard has a vast knowledge of art history. Her years of singular teaching capabilities [left] the university at a loss with her retirement.”

Beyond the classroom, she has been a tireless organizer and curator of art exhibitions at the Dishman, where she served as director for 20 years as well as custodian of the Heinz and Ruth Eisenstadt Collection. She also assisted area art organizations including the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, the Art Studio, Inc., and the Beaumont Art League. In 2003, she was named University Professor and in 2001 awarded Lamar University’s Distinguished Professor Emerita.

The show features: photography by Eric Adams of Silsbee, Class of 2015; mixed-media photography by Megan (Crosby) Badger of Cypress, Class of 2010; oil painting by Amy (Tolbert) Faggard of Port Neches, Class of 1994 and 2013; altered book/sculpture by Sunni Forcier of Beaumont, Class of 2015; sculpture by David Iles of Sanger, Class of 1973; oil and watercolor paintings by Ken Mazzu of Houston, Class of 1992; sculpture and silk screen pulp prints by Amy Richard of Gainesville, Florida, Class of 1984; graphite and gold leaf on paper by Caleb Sims of Houston, Class of 2012; acrylic painting and colored pencil drawing on canvas by Justin Varner of Houston, Class of 2005; and photography by Valerie Yaklin-Brown of Magnolia, Class of 1992 and 1997.

For more information, contact the Dishman Art Museum at (409) 880-8959, or the Office of Alumni Affairs at (409) 880-8921.