16 students’ work spread between two gallery spaces at end of semester art show
“It is like a mini MFA program” – Tess Martens
You weren’t imagining things. From Nov. 28-Dec. 4, artwork from Monica Tap and Christian Giroux’s Specialized Studio course was displayed in two venues as part of an end of semester show called You Were Imagining Things.
The course allows students access to personal studio space that varies in size with the demands of the students’ projects while still offering access to other classmates and mentors for support.
“We have a strong sense of community and are able to support each other as well as criticize and offer advice,” said Nickey Runham. Her work, investigating the relationship between technology and textiles, wallpapered a corner of the class’s project space in Alexander Hall with an orange frieze that resembled a snow fence.
“We constantly give each other feedback on ideas, and we help each other with questions,” said Ye Han, who uses lines to create complex architectural space, also bringing painting into a drawing perspective. “People get to know many different opinions at different stages of creating art work, which give us more chances to think and refine our own ideas.”
“I have had the opportunity to create a personal relationship with the graduate students, which has been extremely beneficial, and create close bonds with students who have similar interests and goals,” said Vanessa Tignanelli. Her work consisted of six portraits that focus on young adults peering downward, supposedly at cell phones. The effect is a gloomy, dreary sight.
“It is like a mini MFA program,” said Tess Martens. Her simplistic painting of a Greek statue of a male nude places a leaf over the subject’s private parts to offer comic relief from the highbrow experience of art critique.
While the course offers a fair amount of freedom to the students both in the space provided as well as with the open nature of the final assignment, it is not without its intellectual demands.
“Our required readings are much more intense than other courses,” Tignanelli said. “The high expectations seemed daunting at first, yet have allowed me to work through issues in my practice that I never would have had to face otherwise.”
Worth 1.5 credits a semester, students are selected for entry to the class from an interview and portfolio submission process each year. All students must achieve an 80 per cent average in all of their studio art and art history classes in order to qualify.
This year’s class consists of students Vikki Dziuma, D’Arcy Flynn, Josh Guthrie, Amy Hallman, Ye Han, Christina Hotz, Tess Martens, Graham Ragan, Nickey Runham, Nick Silvani, Elizabeth Sullivan, Kate Szabo, Vanessa Tignanelli, Jessie Toonen, Victoria Vaitekunas, and Leah Williams.
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