UA Alumna Honors Art Professor with Artwork

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Artist Susan Nomberg McCollough of Gulf Shores, an alumna of the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama, has presented The University of Alabama with her original work, “Sella” to honor Alvin Sella, UA professor emeritus of art.The work was unveiled during recent ceremonies in UA’s Sarah Moody Gallery of Art.

The work, which was commissioned by the College of Arts and Sciences, will hang in Clark Hall, which houses the College’s Office of the Dean, and will be a part of the College’s permanent art collection.Sella, a professor emeritus in UA’s department of art and art history, taught for 35 years before his retirement from UA in 1996.

Known by many as a consummate educator and accomplished artist, he continued to teach drawing at UA by popular demand until 2010.

McCollough, who received her bachelor’s degree in speech and art from UA, studied with Sella. The two developed a student-teacher mentoring relationship that has spanned many years.

At the unveiling ceremony for the work Dr. Robert Olin, dean of the College, remarked, “The College’s motto is: This is how College is meant to be. I have thought about how true that is when I have seen Susan and Al visit over the years. Their relationship began in a classroom here on Woods Quad many years ago, was born out of a mutual love of artistic expression and exploration, and has graced their lives over the years in very meaningful ways.”

As an artist, McCollough has studied with Max Hellman at The Birmingham Museum of Art and Barbara Moon at The Little House on Linden in Birmingham. She has also studied at the Delgado Museum of New Orleans, now the New Orleans Museum of Art, and in Pensacola, Fla.; Boston, Ma.; and at the University of California, Los Angeles.

She has produced more than 500 paintings, many of which were commissioned, and exhibited in more than 10 solo exhibitions in Alabama and Florida. Her works are held in collections in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, New York, California and New Jersey.

For more than 10 years she has served on the Art Committee at the United States Sports Academy, which attracts and honors artists from around the world and is responsible for selecting featured artists for the Olympics. She has owned Studio Three in Florida and, today, works at her private studio in Gulf Shores.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.