Amanda Summers – Copy editor. “H(our) Art,” the show now in the Linfield Student Gallery, has spurred various submissions. One student, for example, chose to contribute to the gallery with loosely formed sculptures placed in a line across the floor with the words “way to inspire” written in clay.
When senior gallery curator Matthew Statz sees this, his primary reaction is to laugh. This piece was added after the show opened.
“H(our) Art” is showing in the Miller Fine Arts Student Gallery. The exhibit features works created in less than an hour. Pieces are predominately acrylic paintings. Other featured media are watercolor and pen, photography and unfired clay. Eight artists contributed, not including two anonymous submissions.
Statz designed the show with a particular idea in mind.
“I wanted lots of artwork and [started with] the intellectual seed that everyone can make art and not be constrained,” Statz said.
Despite a lack of structure, there were surprisingly few submissions to the show. Art majors and minors received e-mails inviting them to contribute.
“I thought about extending it to the whole campus but figured I wouldn’t get that many more submissions and that I would get enough from the art department,” Statz said.
He said he was surprised when, only a few days before the show, he still had so few submissions. He had expected to see a drastic increase in the number of submissions a day or two before the show, but that was not the case.
“You could have done a five-minute sketch on notebook paper, and I probably would have hung it,” Statz said. “It doesn’t need to be so serious.”
He said his original intent for the show was to display an overwhelming amount of art similar only in its hour-long creation time. However, Statz said he was forced to adjust his vision. He needed to find a way to highlight submitted work and to respect the artists that took the initiative to participate.
The end result is a gallery displaying nine hanging pieces and two clay works. Charcoal rectangles of various dimensions outlined the walls, leaving empty space for unsubmitted art.
Statz said he arranged the gallery to be both inspirational and mildly antagonistic to the other art students who did not submit work to the show.
“Drawing the charcoal squares probably took longer than hanging art would have,” Statz said.
Despite the lack of submissions, Statz said he believes the show is successful.
“I think the result works,” he said. “You get the impression I want you to get when you walk into the gallery.“