Exhibit offering ‘real life experience’
USU Dining Services and the art department have collaborated to create a new venue in the Skyroom Restaurant for art students to display their work.
Alan Andersen, director of Food and Dining Services at USU, said, “It was a collaboration of my boss and Carolyn Cardenas, who is the head over the art department.”
The current exhibit, “From the Ground Up: Art Works from the Foundations Program,” runs until April 24 and is the second exhibit to be featured in the gallery.
Marilyn Krannich, instructor for the 3-D design class, said the foundations program classes include two drawing classes, two-dimensional design, three-dimensional design and the art history survey series, and that students typically take these classes their first or second year in the department.
“For most of these students, who are freshmen and sophomores, this is the first time they have had the opportunity to show their work in an exhibit,” Krannich said. “Students were excited – everyone that I asked was excited to have their work showcased here.”
Andersen said Dining Services was excited to get involved, providing food for the openings and paying for the building of pedestals, which provide space for 3-D pieces of art.
The Dining Services motto is to “create an excellent college experience,” Krannich said. “People think of Dining Services as just a place you go eat, but we want to be so much more than that, we want to be thought of as something that adds to the whole college experience, not just a sidebar. So we want to make all of our dining operations and places a place where people can feel comfortable and relax, enjoy the time. We try to get heavily involved with ASUSU and different groups on campus to really do what our motto says – create an excellent college experience – and I think that this new exhibit in the Skyroom is part of that.”
Art students enjoy “any opportunity to get their work out,” Krannich said. “Dining Services has been really accommodating. It has been so great to have a new space to showcase student art.”
Krannich said one of the greatest benefits of exhibits like this are the way they create an additional incentive for students to work hard on their art assignments.
“Even in our hallway cases I’ve had students say, ‘If your work gets in the case you know you have done a good job,'” she said.
Dennise Gackstetter, USU lecturer, said there are a few other places on campus students can showcase their work, including the hallway by the Quadside Cafe, the lower floor of the library by the special collections, and in the cases in the Sunburst Lounge.
“A lot of universities have an art gallery in the student center or one of the more public buildings, and so that gives students the opportunity to show their art in a more highly trafficked area,” Gackstetter said. “At Utah State, we don’t have that and are kind of over in the art building and the gallery isn’t always open after 5, and so it gets less traffic over there, so every new exhibit opportunity is great.”
The Skyroom exhibit has already been a good opportunity for some of the art students, Krannich said.
“The first exhibit showcased artwork of some of the upperclass men and some of the students actually sold some of their pieces,” she said.
Amanda Kerby, supervisor at the Skyroom Restaurant, said customer feedback has been very positive. “They can’t believe that most of the work is from freshmen. It’s really good,” she said. “They are especially impressed with the cardboard chairs.”
Andersen said he is pleased with the way the exhibit is working out.
“We are fully in support of continuing this program next year,” he said.
Krannich said she is excited to continue the exhibit as well.
“We want to rotate the shows through the different mediums or the different emphasis areas so everyone has the opportunity to display their work,” Krannich said.
Gackstetter said the next plan for the Skyroom exhibit is “to make some movable walls so there will be more space for paintings and drawings. It would be great to also get the photographers over here as well.”
Whatever opportunity USU can provide for students is worth it, Gackstetter said.
“I think the greatest benefit for the students is that this helps them prepare for the reality of life after graduation. This is what they are going to do. This is pretty much what they are training to do, in the art world you show your work,” Gackstetter said.
The Skyroom gallery is open daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Krannich said anyone who gets the chance should come and look at the great art work displayed.
She said, “Each work stands on its own as finished piece of art.”
-lindsay.anderson@aggiemail.usu.edu
(Cameron Peterson)
JORDYN SCHWARTZ AND ASHLEE FERGUSON view art projects created by students on display in the TSC’s Skyroom. The exhibit, “From the Ground Up (Camerson Peterson)