Benson Campus Galleries | Greenville Technical College

Ruminations’ definitions carry the deliberate weight of contemplation, the baggage of reflection, and the density of careful purpose. Its 16th century Latin root, rumen, means gullet. Ruminations, though synonymous with deep philosophical and spiritual thoughts, has its roots in biology. Ruminations: Linda Williams McCune is a gathering of Linda’s contemplations made visible in drawings and sculptures spanning several decades, and they initiate with her lifelong, earthy bonds to kin and the family farm.

Ruminations are required at each step of Linda’s creative process. Her initial ideas often originate from a sliver of landscape or bit of weathered wood found on the family homeplace. She always begins with sketches or maquettes, requiring her full attention to detail. She then proceeds to build a drawing with hours of obsessive mark making or build a sculpture by assembling found objects with added elements of carving, drawing, or stitched fabric. These processes are deeply meditative, personal ruminations. She refers to it as the “zone,” and she loses all track of time and becomes deaf to any sound but her pencils on paper or her knife carving wood. Upon completion, her works have a physicality that commands viewers to engage with and ponder her haunting narratives employing their own intuition as the ruminations are passed from the maker to the viewer.

Ruminations: Linda Williams McCune is a celebration of the 25+ years of tireless dedication that Linda gave to the Department of Visual Arts at Greenville Technical College. She was instrumental in increasing the department’s scope while maintaining an emphasis on excellence. Hundreds of Visual Arts students have blossomed under her enthusiastic, persistent, and affectionate care. Her former students, now teachers, designers, and artists, provide the professional foundation of many fine arts and graphic design communities here in South Carolina as well as in New York and Los Angeles.

Linda has been the recipient of various awards, including a Governor’s Distinguished Professor Award in 2007 and the 100 Years 100 Artists Award from the South Carolina State Museum in 2000. Her work has been showcased at numerous exhibitions throughout the U.S. and abroad and is included in many public and private collections. She is proudest to have received a national NISOD Excellence Award for college educators in 2008.

Ruminations fills both Benson Campus Galleries and the new Benson Campus Pavilion with Linda’s drawings and sculptures, including her latest series, “Covid.” On Thursday, October 14 from 4 to 6pm, a public reception in honor of Linda’s retirement and in celebration of her accomplishments will be held outdoors in the Student Plaza conveniently located between both buildings housing the exhibition.