{"id":27425,"date":"2019-06-19T05:30:34","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T10:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=27425"},"modified":"2019-06-18T21:53:22","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T02:53:22","slug":"austin-peay-state-university-graduates-to-spend-summer-at-renowned-art-institute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2019\/06\/19\/austin-peay-state-university-graduates-to-spend-summer-at-renowned-art-institute\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Peay State University graduates to spend summer at renowned art institute"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – Two recent Austin Peay State University (APSU) graduates will step through the doors of a prestigious art institute \u2013 the Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution \u2013 in western New York later this week.<\/p>\n

\"Khari<\/a>

Khari Turner is one of two Austin Peay State University art graduates attending the Chautauqua Institution School of Art this summer. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

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They\u2019ll join 36 other young artists from across the country during a seven-week \u201cincubator of inclusive and expansive programming in the visual arts\u201d comprising classes, workshops and one-on-one time with world-renowned artists such as Wendy Red Star and Hasan Elahi.<\/p>\n

The two graduates \u2013 Khari Turner and Ashant\u00e9 Kindle \u2013 also will step through a door bridging their time at Austin Peay and their futures. Turner starts as a graduate student at Columbia University in September, and Kindle will seek her master\u2019s at the University of Connecticut in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustin Peay has meant the world to me,\u201d Kindle said. \u201cI\u2019ve been given so many opportunities. My life has been changed here. All the people I\u2019ve met, I\u2019ve made family.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustin Peay has set me up for life.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Awe Of The Whole Situation<\/h3>\n
\"Ashant\u00e9<\/a>

Ashant\u00e9 Kindle is one of two Austin Peay State University art graduates attending the Chautauqua Institution School of Art this summer. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Chautauqua Institution has a long history of summertime academia that dates to 1874 and includes such visitors as Booker T. Washington, Susan B. Anthony, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Michael Jackson. The school is listed as a National Historic Landmark District.<\/p>\n

Chautauqua\u2019s School of Art meets every summer and welcomes \u201cemerging artists who have yet to receive wide recognition of their work,\u201d according to the Chautauqua website. The school \u201cintentionally breaks apart the traditional methods that silo disciplines from each other and instead embraces a full range of studio and pragmatic studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

[320left]In \u201cawe of the whole situation,\u201d Turner said, \u201cthere are so many people doing all types of stuff, not just painters but sculptors, it\u2019s such a unique mix from all over the place. I\u2019m really looking forward to figuring out how that\u2019s going to mesh.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be all of us together doing all of this,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m going to dive in and get as much from it as possible while also making insanely different or unique works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kindle is eager to see the diversity of the work coming from various artists and backgrounds. She\u2019s also looking forward to the focus the school will provide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be the first time I\u2019m actually able to sit and focus on what I want my work to say, what I want to do with my work,\u201d she said. \u201cCreating new relationships with people I probably would have never met otherwise.<\/p>\n

Once I Got Here, I Knew I Wasn’t Stopping<\/h3>\n
\"Ashant\u00e9<\/a>

Ashant\u00e9 Kindle will start graduate school at the University of Connecticut in the fall. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Kindle and Turner are similar beyond being emerging artists. Both are nontraditional students in their late-20s who took extended breaks from college before enrolling at Austin Peay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was outside school for a little bit,\u201d Turner, who quickly quit college after high school because of financial aid problems, said. \u201cI tried to make (art) work, but the work I was making was stagnant because I wasn\u2019t learning while I was making work.<\/p>\n

[320right]\u201cI learned when I came to Austin Peay that I have to continue to keep teaching myself to keep reinventing what I\u2019m doing,\u201d the Milwaukee native added. \u201cI knew I had to keep going. Once I got here, I knew I wasn\u2019t stopping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kindle started as an accounting major before dropping out: \u201cI was, \u2018Wow, this is NOT what I want to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I finally decided to follow what I was called to do, one thing came after another,\u201d she said. \u201cArt has taught me a lot more than how to make beautiful things. I\u2019ve learned to look at myself as art and appreciate who I am and what I have to offer the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I think art saved my life,\u201d Kindle added.<\/p>\n

You Really Can Make A Change<\/h3>\n
\"Khari<\/a>

Khari Turner will start graduate school at Columbia University this fall. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

Kindle and Turner see the opportunity to advance their work at Chautauqua.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe education I’m receiving is important because my painting is informed only by the things I know. If I don’t know anything, then I’m not painting,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n

His ultimate goal is to start conversations that inspire how people view others in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think moving people is the hardest thing to do,\u201d Turner said. \u201cOnce you can figure that out, that\u2019s when you really can make change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kindle added: \u201cI feel like I was given these gifts and either I\u2019m going to run from them or I\u2019m going to run to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to take every opportunity given to me to make (my gifts) better,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like the opportunity at Chautauqua is a major one.\u201d<\/p>\n

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