Fine Arts Faculty
Patricia Likos Ricci
Associate Professor of History of Art & Director of the Department of Fine Arts
Office: Steinman Hall, room 100
Phone: 717-361-1517
Email: riccipl@etown.edu
Patricia Likos Ricci is the Director of the Department of Fine Arts, Associate Professor of the History of Art, and a member of the Women and Gender Studies faculty. She teaches courses in 18th and 19th century European and American art and a seminar on the Italian Renaissance. She has written and lectured extensively on the American Renaissance muralist Violet Oakley and was a commentator in the documentary film A Palace of Art: The Pennsylvania State Capitol produced by WITF. Her research focuses on late nineteenth-century American culture, American and European landscape painting, and the interaction of artists and scientists.
She is a co-author of the historic survey Buildings of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania East and the author of The State as a Work of Art: Design, Technology and Social Reform (1876-1917), Violet Oakley: American Renaissance Women, "Bella, Cara Emilia": The Italianate Romance of Emily Sartain and Thomas Eakins, Natural Laws: The Literary and Artistic Roots of American Environmentalism, and Lux ex tenebris: Étienne-Louis Boullée's Cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton. She received her doctorate in the History of Art from Bryn Mawr College and her bachelor's degree from Moore College of Art and Design. A practicing artist, her painting Search and Rescue is on the Artists' Registry of the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
Kristi Arnold
Assistant Professor of Art
Office: Steinman Hall, room 103
Phone: 717-361-1433
Email: arnoldkl@etown.edu
Personal Website: www.kristi-arnold.com
Kristi Arnold was born in Plano, Texas but spent the majority of her childhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting from the University of Kansas in 2001 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Printmaking in 2005 from the University of Connecticut. Between 2005-2006 she lived in Krakow, Poland after being awarded a Fulbright Fellowship at the Akademia Sztuk Pieknych w Krakowie. In 2015, she earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Sydney College of Art in Sydney, Australia while studying under painter, Matthys Gerber. Her work has been exhibited widely throughout the United States and abroad including California, New York and Illinois and countries such as Belgium, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Bulgaria, Poland and Austria. She has also been the Artist-in-Residence at the Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium, ARTSPACE in Australia, the University of Georgia in Georgia, the Lawrence Art Center in Kansas, and a visiting faculty member at The University of Kansas. Kristi Arnold teaches Painting, Drawing and Printmaking at Elizabethtown College, where she has been a faculty member since 2014.
Artist Statement
Today the grotesque is associated with the horrific, the repulsive, the ugly, and the distorted. Our society craves disfiguration, evidenced by deformed rubber Halloween masks, tales of monsters, both real and imaginary, and the proliferation of horrific acts by characters in film and literature. However, the grotesque once described an ornamental style of Renaissance painting that embodied not the ugly, but the beautiful. In conjunction with the grotesque’s historical aesthetic, I explore contrasting ideas such as beauty/ugliness, representation/abstraction, order/disorder, and the poetic/horrific, as well as the connection between mythological hybrid beasts, character masks in contemporary films, and the tragic comedies of the Commedia dell'arte.
The main objective of my work employs this method through distortion, transformation, dark humor, absurdity, contrasting color palettes, and the play between positive and negative space. I specifically abstract representational forms through repetition, symmetry, and change in orientation, transforming the shapes from their original context. Similar to the Rorschach test and Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm shift theory, the shapes are interchangeable, shifting between two or more forms, forever in a state of flux. Oftentimes, the imagery is overtly apparent, resembling certain icons found in popular culture and nature, while other times they are more concealed.
In addition, the symmetrical compositions of my work, titled Grotesque Series, echo the grotesquefrescoes found within early Renaissance paintings and the Neronian grottoes. The symmetry also challenges the Vitruvian ideal of symmetry as beauty and purity. By exploiting these situations through the juxtaposition of opposites, I hope to incite ideas that blur the boundaries between fact and fiction, and between beauty and ugliness.
Dan Burns
Adjunct Faculty
Office: Steinman Hall, room 100
Email: burnsd@etown.edu
Daniel Burns has an international exhibition record, with over one hundred solo and group shows, including exhibits in museums, galleries and universities in the US, Europe and Asia. He has been the recipient of a Fulbright Memorial Award to Japan, and has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Hungarian Multi-Cultural Foundation, Balatonfured, Hungary, The Millay Colony for the Arts, Byrdcliffe Artist Colony and Wilson College. He has also been the recipient of a fellowship to Montserrat College of Art. In 2014, he received the Outstanding Supervision/Administration/Art Educator award from the Pennsylvania Art Education Association for his commitment to art education. Daniel Burns received his MFA from the Catholic University of America.
“It is a privilege and great joy to be an educator. Each student possesses a unique voice that is nurtured through arts education. Their voices enlighten those of us who are fortunate enough to teach. I am continually inspired by the exchange of ideas with students”.
Artist Statement
Exploration, quiet reflection and response are critical to my artistic process. Through this process I create images that are representations of my journey. My work has become an autobiography. With each drawing and painting, a daily record of life is created.
Jeff Bye
Adjunct Faculty
Office: Steinman Hall, room 100
Email: byej@etown.edu
Personal Website: www.jeffbye.com
Jeff Bye is a graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design and was selected to attend a year abroad in Rome, Italy as part of the EHP Program. There, he was exposed to the great masters of art through Museums in London, Paris, Madrid, and Rome. Soon after, he moved to New York City and studied at The New York Academy of Art and received a Master of Fine Arts in Painting.
Living in New York for fifteen years also expanded his knowledge of art, as well as artists, by attending the Metropolitan, Guggenheim, MoMA, and other countless museums and galleries the city has to offer.
Bye is a member of the Copley Society of Boston and was awarded the Copley Master, the youngest ever to receive this honor. Bye currently exhibits in cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Portland, Maine.
Artist Statement
(The Ugly Beautiful)
This series of work is an ongoing exploration of a number of places that I have visited while working in New York City, Philadelphia and throughout the Northeast. While working in the scenic department in New York City, as well as working as a conservator in Pennsylvania and surrounding states, I was able to explore areas that were off limits to the general public. The Brooklyn Navy Yard and Admire Row in the compound of Fort Totten, the Domino Sugar Factory, as well as the Lowes Theater in Brooklyn were just a few places that I have had the pleasure of documenting with my sketchbook and camera. I have also explored a number of buildings in South Philly as well as the neighborhood of Fishtown. I have taken images during my travels to cities and states like Pittsburgh, Virginia, Chicago, and Ohio. These buildings that were once vibrant with activity are now abandoned or on a smaller scale of capacity.
I am fascinated with how these spaces have weathered over time and the beauty that they withhold. These abandoned spaces are now a mere reflection of their past. What draws me to them initially are the facades of the buildings. Some of these structures have a haunting presence that is hard to ignore. I find myself mesmerized by the monumental scale as well as intrigue of what’s inside. The boarded up windows and doors only heightens that intrigue. I feel that I am not alone in this endeavor. I find that I strike up conversations very quickly when people see my work and they are familiar with the structure that I am painting; either they have passed it on their way to work everyday or it’s a staple of their community. They feel that it’s a monument of the past and an iconic symbol of its community. I find out from many people, whether they’ve lived in the neighborhood their entire life or for just a few years, that they want to preserve these buildings as a reminder of their identity of the past and for future generations to have a link to what once was. I can’t stress how important these structures are for me personally. I would love to see some type of history remain in these areas so that there’s a visual and historic understanding of what made the areas so unique to begin with as well as preserving the genetic makeup of the ethnic culture and original purpose of the structures that once was a vital fabric to the overall function of the cities and way of life there.
Viewers are always wanting to know about these structures and if I have ever ventured inside. For example, the paintings “Pocket Door,” “Fort,” and “Corner Studio” are all examples of interiors that pose the question of what else is in the building. They have a strong impact on the viewer by the composition and how the light is penetrating throughout the space and the use of contrast from very dark and ominous corners to pockets of light revealing the beauty of decay. This is also relative in the narrative images that I have created. There’s a drama that is present by how the figures occupy the space. This is not always intentional. The figure naturally takes the attention of the viewer and creates an overall drama and mood.
At a time when clean and new are very welcomed by most, my eyes once again are drawn to the ugly beautiful; the spaces that have character and a reflection of the past. Time is often dismissed in these spaces. It’s a quietness that transcends to the viewer. A moment of stillness that is powered by the light, the structural elements of the spaces, and the additional props and color palette also contribute. I find that these images have an energy that needs time to adjust. Similar to when you enter a space on a bright sunny day and your eyes are in shock because of the extreme contrast from light to dark. I find that these paintings need the full attention of the viewer so that the time and space around it can truly breathe so the raw patinas and textures that give the painting balance can begin to be appreciated.
A recent collection displayed at the Steven Amedee Gallery in New York City included Shoe, reviewed in The American Art Collector Magazine:
In Shoe, Bye shows another old building, but this one occupied by a cobbler and various old machines that are used to repair shoes. He saw the business, was intrigued with all the clutter in the space and popped in to speak with the owner, who gladly let the artist linger and take pictures. The resulting panoramic painting captures the “chaos and clutter” of the business.
Linda L. Eberly
Adjunct Faculty
Office: Steinman Hall, room 100
Email: eberlyl@etown.edu
Personal Website: www.eberlydesigns.com
Linda received her undergraduate degree from Millersville University and has an M.A. in Humanities from Penn State University, where she received the Creative Achievement Award. She began her teaching career in 1993 at Penn State Harrisburg. “I love teaching students the art of combining fine arts with graphic design. I am inspired and rewarded when I can encourage students to find their own voice in their works; when the light bulb goes on and they GET it!”
Artist Statement
When I was very young, I remember laying in the grass on a lazy summer day, spending hours picking out the vivid images I saw in the clouds floating overhead. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was the beginning of a life-long intrigue with pattern and texture; and my ability to recognize objects in unrelated natural formations. There is something in my subconscious that allows my mind to perceive these otherwise unrecognizable images as clear and distinct.
I continue to explore patterns and texture in my paintings, photographs and digital art creations. An avid birdwatcher and lover of the outdoors, I draw inspiration for my work from nature.
Milt Friedly
Professor of Art
Office: Steinman Hall, room 102
Phone: 717-361-1385
Email: friedlmd@etown.edu
Personal Website: www.miltfriedly.com
Milt Friedly has received recognition locally, regionally, nationally and internationally for his work in ceramics, printmaking and sculpture. His work has been included in exhibitions at the Urban Center for Contemporary Art; the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition; the Yellowstone Art Museum; the Nicolayson Art Museum; the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts; Museum; the Gallery of American Craft; the Susquehanna Art Museum; the Lancaster Museum of Art; the Bedford Gallery; the University of Oklahoma; the Savannah College of Art and Design; Denise Bibro Fine Art; the Demuth Museum; the George Krevsky Gallery; the University of the Arts, Philadelphia and the Lesher Center for the Arts. His work is included in a number of public collections and many private collections. He received Fine Arts Degrees from Arizona State University (BFA Ceramics and Printmaking) and the University of Wyoming (MFA Sculpture and Printmaking). He is Professor of Art at Elizabethtown College and directs the Susquehanna Center for the Creative Arts.
Artist Statement
I have been working with remnants (found objects) including welded steel and other mixed media works. My interest in based on physical attraction to the material as well as intrigue with the materials history both long and short term. While some of the materials had specific use and contain a more transparent past others are more mysterious. I am attracted to items that have an immediate past like remnants from a meal as well as objects that invoke nostalgia and a longer history.
I would like the audience to take a closer look at what is recycled or thrown away and consider its beauty, whether a piece of steel from the junk yard or packing material from a newly received package. I have found intrigue and beauty in the banal – objects and material that I believe are often overlooked in a hurry-up and technologically controlled society, one that demands immediate satisfaction.
Jeff Geib
Adjunct Faculty
Office: Steinman Hall, room 100
Email: geibj@etown.edu
Jeff Geib was born in Manheim, Pennsylvania. He received his BFA from Millersville University. His work has been shown at the Demuth Museum, Lancaster Museum of Art, and is represented by Lancaster Galleries. Currently, Geib resides in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
