EXHIBIT STATEMENT
Kathie Walker-Millar

The Full Circle show is an exhibition in the main gallery at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Abilene, Texas during March and April, 2010. This exhibit includes the art of McMurry University Art Professor and Abilene artist, Kathie Walker-Millar; the art of four of her art professors; and the art of some eighteen of her former students. In this Full Circle exhibit there are visible connections within the art of these three academic generations of artists in spirit, concept, imagery, process and technique.

Centrally placed in the gallery are the works of four of Kathie Walker-Millar's teachers: John Brough Miller, sculptor; Susan kae Grant, photographer; Jim Woodson, painter; and Harry Geffert, sculptor. Miller is still sculpting, although now retired from Texas Woman's University (TWU) and Susan Kae Grant, a dynamic exhibiting photographer, is currently a Professor of Art at TWU. Harry Geffert is a former Art Professor at Texas Christian University (TCU), currently the owner of Foundry Green Mountain Foundry and an active sculptor and Jim Woodson is the head of Graduate Art Studies at TCU and energetic painter.

Placed in the north, south, east and west directions of the gallery are Kathie Walker-Millar's works of art. Her art is a fusion or distillation what she has seen, sketched, taught, photographed, studied and experienced. This summer she travelled to China for a 27 day sojourn, eleven years after her first journey there to adopt their youngest daughter. This journey is another Full Circle. The tall ceramic vessels in the exhibit were inspired by her visit to Jing De Zhen, an ancient and contemporary center of porcelain production.

Around the perimeter of the main gallery are the works of some eighteen of Walker-Millar's former students: from Lea Anne Jasper, a recent mom who teaches art in Minneapolis; to Jonathan Kimbrell, who makes his living as an artist in Dallas; to Van Moore who directs the Breckenridge Arts Center; to Ash Almonte who is a full time painter in Abilene; and to Tom Turner who is a photo journalist in Tyler, Texas. The former students in the exhibit range in careers from art teachers, to gallery managers, to full-time or part-time artists. The media they use varies from clay, to painting, to mixed media and to photography.

by Kathie Walker-Millar

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Kathie Walker-Millar

Abilene was not on my list of places to live until I met a blue-eyed artist who taught here. Persuaded by Mr. blue-eyes, his two delightful daughters and a teaching position in the Art Department at McMurry University, I made Abilene my home and joined its powerful art community in 1992.

I am a natural born Yankee from Rochester, New York and who migrated with the monarchs and graduated from high school in Guadalajara, Mexico. I earned a Bachelor of Fine Art from Texas Christian University in ceramics, a Master of Education from Texas Christian University through Teacher Corps, and a Master of Fine Art in ceramics and minor in photography from Texas Woman?s University.

My family of origin was captivated by travel and camping, a passion I continue to practice with my husband and our 12 year old daughter. Our trips to Europe or south to Abilene State Park often inspire my art. This summer our travels led us to China to visit dinosaur sites, a panda breeding center, the Great Wall, the terra cotta warriors and Jing De Zhen, a contemporary and ancient porcelain producing locale.