Pat and Don Phillips, benefactors of Appalachian State
University’s Belk Library and Information Commons, commissioned
Ashe County artist Stephen Shoemaker to create a limited edition
print of the library. The Phillipses reside in Hernando, Fla.,
and Ashe County. Pat Phillips chairs the Belk Library and Information
Commons Advisory Board.
Pat and Don Phillips of
Ashe County and Hernando, Fla., have commissioned a limited
edition print to benefit a student scholarship fund at
Appalachian State University. Photo by Troy Tuttle, University
Photographer
The 39-by-31-inch print depicts the library at evening. Copies
of the first 20 prints with a special artist remark are available
for a $500 contribution, which will benefit the Library Student
Employee Scholarship fund.
Shoemaker was born and raised in West Jefferson. He began his
art career as a student at Brevard College in 1964. He also attended
Guilford College before spending two years in the military. Shoemaker
completed his art degree at Appalachian. He spent 20 years in
Charlotte working in visual merchandising.
Shoemaker created a surrealistic, larger-than-life image that
sparks the imagination and delights the eye. Depictions of people
and imagery important to the university and to Shoemaker’s
education are founding in the painting.
Within the print are likenesses of Noyes Capehart Long, a former
chairman of the department of art and an important influence on
Shoemaker. Long can be found sitting next to his own painting
“Blue Poles.”
Other likenesses in the print are those of university librarian
Mary Reichel, head football coach Jerry Moore and former chancellor
Dr. Frank Borkowski.
Hidden in the print are other details that further identify the
time-frame of the building. Among them are the numerals
“34-32” that reference the score from the 2007 Appalachian
vs. Michigan football game and goalposts that were carried from
the stadium the night of the win. The painting also includes the
Appalachian songbird, books on the plaza wall depicting the three
national football championships and a student carrying one of
Shoemaker’s train prints.
A full-time watercolor artist since 1983, Shoemaker concentrates
on dry brush landscapes and trains. His art is in corporate and
private collections nationally and internationally. His past exhibitions
include the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte and SRL (?) in Winston-Salem.
His art also is on display in Japan, Russia, Australia and Germany.
The Library Student Scholarship Fund was created in 2007 to support
the education of student assistants who perform vital library
tasks. Without these student assistants, the university library
could not operate. The library awarded three $500 scholarships
in fall semester 2008. To qualify, students must be recommended
by their supervisor and complete an application with a brief essay
describing how working in the library has impacted their education.
For more information about the print, contact Lynn Patterson in
the Belk Library and Information Commons at (828) 262-2087 or
pattersondl@appstate.edu.
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