Retired administrator joins words and art in new exhibits

After retiring in 1994 as associate dean in the College of Letters & Science, Blair Mathews has maintained his connection with the university through a variety of channels. Now, as a poet, Mathews brings a different kind of work back to campus.

Two current exhibits showcase Mathews’ collaborations with local artists.

“Remembering” links Mathews with Truman Lowe, emeritus professor of art. The exhibit, at the School of Education Gallery, 1000 Bascom Mall, closes on Friday, Dec. 14 with a reception from 4-6 p.m.

“Truman and I are longtime friends, and we’ve always wanted to join together,” says Mathews. “I asked Truman to give me a set of his pieces and spent time absorbing them; these haiku poems came out.”

In “Seasoned” (with poet Donna Carnes, who describes herself in verse as “shaped by Bascom Hall”), artists Laura Bouffiou Jacobson, Steve Landfried and Kent Mathews used the poems as inspiration for their own visual art. “Seasoned” is now on view at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St.

Mathews enjoys collaborating with artists, particularly when both are inspired by nature. Past works include a fusion of words and dance with professors Li Chiao-Ping and Jin-Wen yu.

Since the 1970s, he has worked with painter and fellow administrator Bruce Murray, former assistant dean of academic affairs in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. In a Parallel Press book, “Echo,” Murray’s full-color, woodblock-style paintings reflect the seasonal themes and landscapes of Mathews’ extended haiku poetry.

These days, Mathews revels in finding connections and oppositions in the natural world. A teacher of tai chi chuan, his business card features the circular taijitu representing the concepts of yin and yang: the interdependence of seemingly opposite forces.

As he describes being inspired by Lowe’s art in “Remembering,” he smiles at the idea of “Seasoned” occurring at the same time, with the opposite approach.

“We reversed the energy in that one,” says Mathews. “It just happened; the stars are aligned.”