JACKSONVILLE, AL — As originally reported by Brett Buckner with JSU’s media department, a commissioned rendering of one of Jacksonville State University’s most recognizable buildings has joined two mixed-media works by local artist Nanda Patel in the office of Jax State President Dr. Don Killingsworth.
The three works — Patel’s rendering of Angle Hall, The Diverse Earth and The Pond — reflect themes of education, diversity, growth and service while also connecting the artist’s work with the university’s history and architecture.
Patel and Killingsworth first crossed paths under very different circumstances.
Following the EF-3 tornado that struck the Jax State campus on March 19, 2018, causing more than $35 million in damage, Patel donated approximately 130 hotel rooms’ worth of furniture as the university worked to house displaced students.
Among those helping load dressers, televisions and other furnishings into trucks and rental vans was Killingsworth, then Jax State’s chief external affairs officer. Patel said she did not know who he was at the time.
“He never introduced himself,” Patel said. “I didn’t know who he was. Of course, there was a lot going on at the time.”
Years later, the two met again after Killingsworth had become university president and Patel had gained recognition for her artwork in addition to her work as a local business owner.
In an artist statement for an ongoing exhibition at Gallery@808 in Gadsden, Patel describes herself as “an ethnic folk artist whose mixed-media work is shaped by a life lived across cultures and continents.”
Born in Kenya to British Indian parents, Patel experienced displacement during Africanization, moving to India and later London before eventually settling in the United States.
Patel has recently exhibited at the Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art at Talladega College and Gadsden State Community College. She is also tentatively scheduled for exhibitions at the Birmingham Public Library, Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment in Huntsville and the Mary Hardin Center for Cultural Arts in 2027, followed by the Carnegie Visual Arts Center in 2028.
Around 2024, Killingsworth saw some of Patel’s work on Facebook. He later visited her home studio, where two pieces in particular — The Diverse Earth and The Pond — caught his attention.
The Diverse Earth incorporates fabrics from Kenya, India and the United States to form a flower.
“Symbolizing that while the Earth and sun are one, people are different,” Patel said. “Each cultural situation supports the flower, representing diversity and the pillars of education.”
For The Pond, Patel used five different cotton saris in a collage layered with acrylics. She describes the work as a meditation on the difficulties from which beauty and success can emerge.
Having owned and operated motels for more than 20 years, Patel said the piece also reflects her belief that every member of a workforce contributes to an organization’s success. Lotus flowers growing from the muck serve as the central representation of that idea.
“The muck is as important as the top few lotuses,” she said. “Recognizing everyone that put effort in the success of any situation is important.”
Killingsworth later commissioned Patel to create a work specifically connected to Jacksonville State: a rendering of Angle Hall.
“Angle Hall is one of the most recognizable and historic buildings on our campus, and I wanted a piece that captured what makes it so special,” Killingsworth said. “Ms. Patel has a unique style and an incredible attention to detail, and I thought her work would lend itself well to something that celebrates the history and character of Jax State.”
Creating Angle Hall
Angle Hall, formerly Bibb Graves Hall, was renamed in January 2021 in honor of alumni Marcus and Mary Angle.
For the commissioned work, Killingsworth wanted a rendering emphasizing the building’s architectural details rather than a traditional painting.
“I can draw anything,” Patel said. “The concept of Angle Hall was all [Dr. Killingsworth’s]. The agreement was mine, and I said, ‘I’ll give you everything you want.’ The medium he chose, he liked the pencil kind of look with the watercolors, and it was very gradual just looking at the details.”
Before beginning the piece, Patel wanted to understand exactly where it would eventually hang.
“We spent several hours together on a very cold fall day,” Patel said. “I met him at Angle Hall, and he showed me the space. I took photos of the room and thought we need to give this a cleaner look. Then he gave me a tour around his home where he has art, and he stood on the side of Angle Hall as I clicked away.”
Patel returned to Killingsworth’s office several times to photograph and measure the space and study its darker tones. She said those considerations influenced decisions about the size and presentation of the finished work.
“Commission means placement,” Patel said.
“Where’s it going? Let me see the wall. Can I measure it?” she said. “Commission includes the whole thing. Where? How? What? How long will it be there? What do you want to feel from it when you’re done?”
Patel selected the frame, matting and glass in addition to creating the artwork itself.
“Finally, when the decision was made, it was going to be around six feet,” she said. “I had to get the right paper because it had to be multi-medium. It’s a mixed medium. It’s got watercolors and pencil and charcoal on it.”
Killingsworth also requested that one familiar feature be omitted from the view of Angle Hall.
“[Dr. Killingsworth] said, ‘I don’t want the fountain in the front,’” Patel said. “And that just enlightened me on his concept. Because he says he’s not an artist, I felt what he felt.”
Eight Weeks of Detailed Work
Patel created the Angle Hall piece in the dining room of her hilltop home, where large windows provided the natural light she needed.
She taped a sheet of paper nearly six feet long to her dining table and left it in place throughout the approximately eight-week process. Family dinners were moved elsewhere, and Patel said her grandchildren were kept out of the room to protect the work.
“Nobody could touch it,” she said. “No one came over for dinner. Nobody. And I could only draw on it during daylight.”
The building’s symmetry presented one of the primary challenges.
“Angle Hall’s symmetry was unforgiving,” Patel said. “Its windows, angles, and towers demanded mathematical precision.”
Patel’s background in physics proved useful as she worked through the building’s proportions and perspective.
“It was a lot of ruler work,” she said. “A lot of it was perception. It was geometry at the highest level.”
The left tower was particularly difficult.
“That perspective was a tough cookie,” Patel said. “My rulers were not long enough and I’m trying so hard. And then I’d stand on a chair and take a photo from the top and look at it.”
Patel said the process differed significantly from creating pieces such as The Pond and The Diverse Earth, which she produces in an upstairs studio where she works more freely with fabric and paint.
“Painting is upstairs,” she said. “It’s a messy table because that’s where I let the paint just go.”
Angle Hall required a more controlled process.
“It was very concise,” she said. “It was precise timeliness. I would dress up. I would sit down. My hands were always clean because I was terrified it would smudge.”
When the work was completed in February, Patel had her husband hold it upright so she could photograph the finished piece.
“It is not a painting,” Patel said. “It’s actually Angle Hall’s details. I’ve lived in England. I’m very fond of history, of castles. So, that look and that amazing centerpiece, if you look at the details, that is some amazing work. Even I am amazed.”
Killingsworth offered to have someone collect the work, but Patel chose to transport it herself.
“Nope,” she said. “I get anxiety stricken when I think about a car crash. My painting was in the back. When it has to go from point A to B, I’m going to be the one to make sure it gets there safely.”
Patel drove the work to Birmingham for framing and later delivered it personally to Killingsworth’s office.
“I lifted it myself, walked right in and said, ‘I am done. It is yours now.’”
The completed Angle Hall rendering now hangs above a conference table in the President’s Office, with The Diverse Earth and The Pond displayed alongside it.
“Now you put the three together,” Patel said, “it’s like the pillars of education.”
Patel said the Angle Hall work was designed specifically for its current setting and is not something she intends to recreate.
“I will never do a second to Angle Hall,” she said. “It’s very stoic, but I had to give it a life. It’s made for that particular space and gives it that aura.”
Killingsworth said the collection contributes to his goal of making the President’s Office representative of the university and the community it serves.
“The President’s Office is a place where we welcome students, alumni, employees, community members and visitors from across the state and beyond,” Killingsworth said. “I want it to be a space that reflects who we are as a University. These pieces help us do that while showcasing the work of a talented artist from our own community.”
