September 16, 2019

Paintings and drawings by East Mississippi Community College art instructor Cynthia Buob will be featured in an exhibit in Meridian as a result of her “Best of Show” placing during a juried regional art competition.

The Cynthia Buob Invitational Exhibit will run from Sept. 28 to Nov. 30 at the Meridian Museum of Art, located at 628 25^th Ave. Buob will be the featured speaker during an opening reception for the exhibit that will take place Sept. 28 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

In March, Buob earned top honors in the Meridian Museum of Art’s 45^th Annual Bi-State Competition in which more than 170 pieces of artwork were submitted. Buob was awarded $1,000 for “Best of Show” and her art will be featured in the upcoming exhibit.

Buob, who teaches at EMCC’s Golden Triangle campus, said between 15 to 20 pieces of her art will be on display at the exhibit and will include both oil paintings and charcoal drawings.

“My work is always figurative,” she said. “When I first started taking figure drawing classes, I was sold. I love painting flesh and in the drawings for the exhibit I was kind of playing with light and the way it hits things.”

Buob said much of her art is inspired by stories told to her and that she tries to convey the feelings those stories evoke.

“I like to recreate the thought that the image brings out,” she said. “What is the interaction of the people with each other? If I were there, what would I be feeling? In these paintings I can create the story. It is visual storytelling.”

Buob, who has taught at EMCC for five years, is a former adjunct art instructor at both Mississippi State University and the Mississippi University for Women. A native of Peoria, Ill., Buob earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Milliken University in Decatur, Ill., and a Master of Fine Arts degree in art from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

“I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do but I knew it would be in art,” Buob said. She has garnered recognition elsewhere this year.

One of Buob’s paintings was among 50 pieces of art selected for inclusion in the 61^st Annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. More than 1,000 entries were submitted for the juried regional art competition that kicked off with a May 2 reception.

Contemporary artist Kevin Cole was the juror for the competition.

“He gave a juror’s talk beforehand and one of the pieces he chose to talk about was mine,” Buob said. “That was kind of fun because I was in the audience and was not expecting it.”

In August, she received a $500 grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission, which awarded $1.3 million in grants in 2019-20 to, among other things, support artists and arts organizations.

“I used the money to buy really nice paint brushes and things I wouldn’t have bought otherwise,” Buob said. “I was able to use that for this show and I am grateful to the Mississippi Arts Commission. That was very generous.” 

Mathiston resident Sabrina Shields is an EMCC student who is taking Buob’s drawing class. She said Buob is a talented artist and a good teacher.

“She shows us what to do and lets us do what we want to with it and then provides feedback to help us to get better,” Shields said. “She is really good to work with.”

Buob resides in Columbus with her husband, Tom Velek. The couple has two boys, Avery and Coen.