MURRAY, Ky. – The Department of Art & Design at Murray State University is pleased to host Stephanie Alaniz as the Patricia L. Summerville Artist in Printmaking on Tuesday, Sept. 10-Friday, Sept. 13.

Alaniz (they/them) will create a fabric relief print project with the help of Professor Nicole Hand’s advanced printmaking class. The workshop will be from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. in Price Doyle Fine Arts Room 1005.

Alaniz will also give a lecture on their work on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. in Price Doyle Fine Arts Room 623. The workshop and lecture are both free and open to the public.

Alaniz was born and raised in South Texas. They received their Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2016 from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with an emphasis in printmaking. They then went on to receive their Master of Fine Arts from West Virginia University in 2019. Alaniz’s current work focuses on normalizing insecurities, challenging anti-fat bias, discussing mental health issues and the intersectionality of all of these topics.

Through printmaking, textiles, drawing and sculpture, they are able to create work about these topics with the hope of inviting the viewers in to reflect on themselves and how these topics influence the world around us. Alaniz currently lives in Emporia, Kansas, where they are the gallery and outreach director at Emporia State University.

The Patricia L. Summerville Lecture Series is made possible through an endowment to the Department of Art & Design from Patricia Summerville, who graduated from Murray State University in 1972 with a B.S. Ed., after attending the University for only three years. She then earned three additional degrees, including a M.S. Ed., with a major in supervision in 1976 from the University of Akron; a M.H.A., with a major in Hospital Administration in 1982 from Xavier University; and the Juris Doctor from Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University in 1994. She was admitted to the bar the following year. Summerville’s career included teaching art for six years, serving as an administrator for hospitals and healthcare facilities for twenty years and practicing law for five years before retiring in 2003. She passed away in March 2022.

For more information about the Patricia L. Summerville Lecture Series or the Department of Art & Design, contact Nicole Hand at nhandbryant@murraystate.edu. For more about Alaniz’s work, please visit stephaniealaniz.com.