Layered space — the combination of light, shadow, and surrounding subjects – has captivated Professor of Art Pamela Venz for decades.

In her studio, she looks at a photograph taken in Húsavík, Iceland, from her family’s 2012 trip, where they stayed with Birmingham-Southern soccer families. Windows reflect a pale 8:30 p.m. brightness over the town, and reflections and angles tell a story inside the room.

“The unmade bed, the lamp, the little travel clock — those are like little narrative elements,” Venz says. “The idea of framing and altering a space and using reflections or shadows so you can really put yourself in the scene I find fascinating, with these narrative elements.”

During a momentous time in Venz’s career — named the Outstanding Educator during Commencement in May 2022 and approaching retirement after the spring 2023 term — her own space on the Hilltop reflects her talent and her dedication to the College for more than 30 years.

After joining the Department of Art in 1986 and soon undertaking the few photography courses offered, Venz fought for and founded the College’s photography concentration in 1998.

“No legitimate art program that offers a BFA can do so without a concentration in the most important visual development of the 19th century, as we were knocking on the door of the 21st, i.e., photography,” Venz says. “Unlike drawing and painting, photography infiltrates every aspect of our existence. You probably see tens of thousands of photographic images a day.”

On her walls, above cabinets, and in corners and nooks of the space, photographs span decades and often detail the ways Venz uses her camera “to investigate my place within space.”

Alongside her longtime interest in exploring light, dark, and layered space through photographs is a more recent series on alternative processes using x-rays, MRIs, and mammograms as image sources. One piece mounts dog tags with medical scans on an award plaque, comparing ideas of trauma and identifying brokenness.

Across from the art annex is Venz’s office in the Kennedy Art Center, which continues to display her story through more photographs and other reflections of her life and time at BSC. Family photos picture her husband, James Alexander, professor emeritus of ceramics at UAB, and her two sons, Colin Alexander ’13, trained opera singer and urban planner for the city of Birmingham, and Sean Alexander ’16, New-York based actor and recent American Academy for Dramatic Arts graduate.

In corners of her office, through mementos, books, and photos, you will find Marilyn Monroe, with whom Venz has always been fascinated, leading to her longtime E-Term class on Monroe’s life. Above Venz’s computer are posters of the men’s soccer team and the many players she has gotten to know over her years as the program’s academic liaison and “Team Mom” since the program’s start.

Venz has transformed the Department of Art and influenced countless students, faculty, and staff throughout her career, and she looks to her last year at the College with the perspective she holds as an artist.

“Art is a constant evolution, and photography as a discipline has always been in flux – change is part of the process.”