‘Undergraduate Open House’ to showcase students’ work

Varad Raigaonkar
Thu, 20 Apr 2023 23:59:45 +0000
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A range of student art will be presented in the ‘Open House” event on Monday. Credit: Courtesy of Diana Abells

Undergraduate students from introductory and advanced classes will show off their work in the “Undergraduate Open House” event by the Department of Art Monday.?

The event, starting at 5 p.m. Monday at Hopkins Hall, is an opportunity for students to share their semester’s work, Roger Beebe, professor of film studies, said.?

“It is a really nice capstone to the semester and a chance for us to expand the reach of what we’re doing in the classroom,” Beebe said.?

Each class decides how they want to share the work, but Beebe said every corner of Hopkins Hall is reserved for the artwork.

Diana Abells, an adjunct professor with the Department of Art, said with all the art classes coming together, the goal is also to showcase the variety that comes out of the program.

“If you’re interested in picking an art class, it’s a way of seeing what might be interesting to you,” Abells said.

The Open House is grouped according to the areas of art for continuity, Abells said.?

Ceramics is in the basement; art and technology on the first floor; printmaking on the second floor; photography, film and video on the third floor; painting and drawing on the fourth floor with other areas sprinkled in, Abells said.

Beebe said there is a variety of art for everyone to enjoy, and he hopes visitors give each room a chance.

“People really have no idea what a lot of the stuff we are doing is,” Beebe said. “You can’t know if you’re interested or not until you have checked it out. If a floor, if a room doesn’t do anything for you, move down the hall and there’s something else.”

Aside from printed art, Abells said modern technology will be a part of the Open House as well, including virtual reality and robotics.?

Beebe said the organizing of the event was decentralized — leaving it up to the instructors to collaborate and coordinate the exhibition together.

Beebe said his own cameraless filmmaking class, which revolves around experimental techniques like hand processing film and machinima, will screen the video work by students.

“We just run through stuff as the night runs along and hope that people stay for whatever they can stay for,” Beebe said.

Beebe said the COVID-19 pandemic revitalized appreciation in the department for an in-person viewing of all the art.

“We’ve made efforts to make sure that the entire building is activated,” Beebe said. “There’s a little bit more energy than there was five years ago.”

Abells said to get the most out of the open house, audiences should stop by between 5-7 p.m.

The open house is not just an experience of the audience but deeply important for students contributing to it as well, Abells said.

“Artwork is often something we make to communicate ideas,” Abells said. “This is a natural conclusion to making artwork all semester, which is to put it on display and see it.”?

Beebe said the open house is a crucial part of the college journey for the artists as it takes their work beyond the academic assignments, and out there in the world.