Bree Capel
bic001@marietta.edu
Art faculty members are showcasing select works Friday night, Sept. 26, at Gallery 310 in the Hermann Fine Arts Center. According to art faculty members, the purpose of the exhibit, which opens 6- 8 p.m. and runs until Nov. 27, is to show students that art professors are active in their fields and that they continue to practice what they teach. Instructor Fred Jesser elaborated in saying “An exhibition like this is meant to open dialogue, and hopefully inspire creativity among the art students.”
With readers in mind, members of the art faculty described their experience as teachers and artists. Assistant Professor of Art and Graphic Design Sara Always-Rosenstock spoke on how long she had considered herself a designer.
“Ever since I was little…I’d spend hours just drawing my name in different ways,” she said. “So I would say as a designer, [my aptitude] actually started pretty early.”
In contrast, Associate McCoy Professor Jolene Powell asserted that she has been a painter since she was 20 years old when she attended her first art class.
Art faculty agreed that balance is crucial in maintaining duties as professors in addition to their businesses and daily artistic practices. While some faculty members designated the summer as their most productive time for work, others, like Fred Jesser, likened their work to a life pulse rather than an occupation.
“I simply think about it all the time,” Jesser said. “Literally…all the time. It’s like a faint undercurrent of electricity…a tingle that’s always there even when I’m doing something seemingly mundane. The thoughts and the research are always there,” he said.
Each of the views contributed by faculty members inspired the question of whether one must formally study art or design to be artists or designers, respectively.
Art instructor Beth Nash said that anyone can be creative and an artist –depending on his or her definition of art. Nevertheless, Nash said that formal artistic education undoubtedly helps develop critical thinking abilities.
Whether this show is relevant to students unaffiliated with the art department is another question. Of the matter, junior Aman Berhanemeskel said, “I personally would not attend a faculty art show. As a double major in geology and petro, it is hard for me to find time.” He added that, “The particular subject does not interest me.”
Still, other students disagreed and valued the presence of a faculty art exhibit regardless of being unaffiliated with the department. Sophomore psychology major CJ Feipel said “I’d be interested to see it. I think art is relevant in everyone’s life no matter the media or motif simply because it’s a way of expressing ideas, feelings, and emotions. More specifically, I think a faculty exhibit is relevant in my own life because I would get to see what leaders on campus view as worth expressing.”
Jolene Powell said that in the absence of a variety of local art galleries and museums, the faculty showcase is especially important for appreciators of art in the community.
Ultimately, whether the upcoming art exhibit is pertinent to the general campus and community depends on a working definition of the purpose of art. One must ask oneself whether art has an intention as distinct as those of the various majors across campus.
All things considered, all are encouraged to attend the upcoming art faculty showcase where discussion is always welcome.
