Strolling around the studio
Students at Utah State may constantly be looking for ways to reinvent their apartments with creative decor. The combined Print Sale and Studio Stroll put on by the art department in the Caine School of the Arts could help. The two events will be held in the art section of the fine arts building.
This event will mark the 10th annual Print Sale. Cathy Puvey, professor of printmaking and art guild adviser, said she decided to make the sale a collaborative effort between all the art emphases in the school. Puvey said she has overseen the Print Sale for each of her six years at USU. Puvey said the art guild is the group of students that decides what projects the art department will embark on and what artists will come in to teach the students.
“We thought to open all the studios at the same time so that people can look at what all the other talented students are doing,” she said.
Elizabeth Brown, a senior in art, is excited about the collaboration as well. She said she participated in the Print Sale last year and sold about $100 worth of prints.
“The dynamic is awesome because they’ll be able to see all the different forms of artwork on display. The atmosphere should be really fun,” she said.
Puvey said the event has been purely a sale before, and she’s looking forward to making it an exhibition of the students’ artistic gifts as well.
Painting, photography, printmaking and ceramic majors will all be participating. Michelle Oarsen, senior in art and the student director of the Studio Stroll said, “We also have support from the museum and art gallery, and everything is coming together in one night, under one roof. It should be really interesting and different.”
Anyone’s art is allowed to be showcased, but Oarsen said most of the people invited to participate are students. She said Studio 102 will be opening for the first time during the Studio Stroll. It is a wood cuts exhibition of the students work within the theme of Landscape/Urbanscape. The Nora Eccles Harrison art museum will also be open on the same night and will showcase some professional art as well.
Jessica Bengston, a senior in environmental studies and photography and the overseer of the photography portion of the stroll, said she thinks it is nice to have it correspond with the Print Sale. She said all art students are required to take courses having to do with all the different mediums of art. Even as a photography major, she took drawing, painting and three-dimensional design. Brown said it’s interesting for them to see how the art form they are so familiar with is being interpreted by other students.
“The stroll enables students to be inspired – look at their peers’ work, and compare and contrast their own work to it,” she said.
Brown said guests should seek to understand where the artist is coming from, and where their interests lie. An artist’s work demonstrates their technical ability, but they also express their opinions and values visually through their work.
Puvey said the prices of the artwork range from $5 to hundreds of dollars, so there is a range of affordable artwork.
“Not only that, but all the pieces are hand-printed, limited edition, original works of art. We didn’t just go down to Kinko’s and make copies. That’s really rare for such inexpensive prices,” Puvey said.
She also said the artists will also be there during the sale, so guests can ask questions about their art. The Print Sale will also have samples of each printmaking process. All the equipment used to make the prints will be on display. Guests will be able to buy a T-shirt with their personal choice of graphics printed on it that same night, especially for them.
The Studio Stroll will take place on Nov. 18 from 6-8 p.m. The Print Sale will be the same night from 5-9, but will also be on Friday, Nov. 19 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will also be refreshments served throughout the building.
“It’s a fun, free event. There’s great art to buy if you want to, but to just walk around, eat some refreshments, talk to your friends and see the way that others express themselves through all types of art – that’s fun,” Oarsen said.
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Ryan Reidel creates one of his masterpieces for the print sale and studio stroll. MAKAELA HERRAN photo