“Class of (circa) ’65” wraps up gallery’s 50th anniversary celebration

The works of two esteemed UF art alumni, Robert Fichter and Mernet Larsen, will be on display in University Gallery Oct. 27 through Dec. 4. The exhibition features paintings and photographs, including some of Fichter and Larsen taken in the early ’60s by Jerry Uelsmann. A public reception will be held Friday, Nov. 6, from 7-9 p.m. The showing is the final of the year celebrating the gallery’s first half-century.

The artists featured in “Class of (circa) ’65” have had interesting parallels throughout their lives. They both grew up in Gainesville and graduated from P.K. Yonge, UF’s developmental research school. Fichter and Larsen earned BFAs from UF’s School of Art + Art History and MFAs from Indiana University. The two worked together as editor and art editor of their high school annual and at a UF student magazine, “Scope.” Between them, they studied with Jerry Uelsmann, Roy Craven, Jack Nichelson, Ken Kerslake, Hiram Williams and other legends of UF’s School of Art + Art History.

“Their work has followed a course in the art world that has allowed for re-births, discoveries, experimentation and significant success,” said Amy Vigilante, director of UF’s University Galleries. “It is an honor to present this rich and layered exhibition that captures specific examples of evolution in art making by two people who have had tremendous influence on many art students in Florida over the years.”

For more information, please contact Leah Spellman at lspellman@arts.ufl.edu or 352-273-1489.