Reception for Professor Jim Adams
4 to 7 p.m. Friday, May 9
Gallery G, College Union
Drawings of Professor Jim Adams
fill Gallery G for two-part show
Back-to-back showings of the artistry of Professor James R.C. Adams make exciting use of Manchester College’s glassed showcase Gallery G, on the upper floor of the College Union. On display through May 4 are Adams’ portrait and life drawings, to be followed by a May 9 opening of his paintings.
 Gallery G is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and noon to 3 p.m. Sundays.
Also on May 9, a reception will celebrate Professor Adams’ 51-year career at Manchester College. The nationally honored teacher and artist retires at the end of this school year.
Adams drew all of the portraits and some of the figures while in his classroom, as demonstrations, each taking 15 minutes to a half-hour to complete.
“Drawing is the foundation for all art, and figure-drawing is the most important sort of drawing,” says Adams. “The human body is an amazing creation, and if you can learn to draw it well, you can draw anything.”
The exhibit includes nudes, an important skill, notes Adams. “If you don’t know what the body actually looks like, you can’t draw or paint clothing convincingly. All the folds and wrinkles are caused by underlying bones, muscles, creases and wrinkles in the body … they do not fall at random.”
Professor Adams has degrees from George Washington University and the Instituto Allende, affiliated with the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. He has studied at the Corcoran Art School in Washington, the Ruskin Art School, Oxford University, and the University of Barcelona. He taught a year at a school in Germany, three years at the University of Barcelona and was a Faculty Fellow of the Indiana Campus Compact.
Among his numerous awards – for his artwork as well as artistic restoration – Adams was selected by Congress as the 2002 U.S. Professor of the Year among baccalaureate colleges and universities.
Hundreds of Manchester College students have not only studied art with Professor Adams, but also have traveled the world with him, to experience the art and culture of Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Italy, Spain, Morocco and India. Indeed, much of his artwork is drawn from his travels and fascination with life-long learning. Adams is fluent in Spanish and Italian and he reads eight languages.
All of Adams’ works on display in Gallery G are for sale. To discuss a purchase, contact Thelma Rohrer, chair of the Department of Art, at 260-982-5327 or Jim Adams, at 260-982-5333.
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