Correction appended
The annual Craft Center Staff Art Show began its display in the Adell McMillan Gallery on the second floor of the EMU on Monday, Feb. 9, showcasing the talents in the University Craft Center.
Coordinators for the show hope the art display will draw more creative students into Craft Center workshops.
“We really want people to see what our students have done and how talented they’ve been. We also want to showcase the work of our instructors because a lot of people who take our classes have no idea what kind of work our instructors actually do,” said Laura Gerards, Craft Center program assistant.
The exhibit highlights a variety of skills in different mediums including wood, glass, metal, paint, and digital and film photography. “It’s usually a very diverse show,” said Gerard, a jeweler.
Some of the work exhibited in the gallery was contributed by the Craft Center’s ceramics artist-in-residence, sculptor Terrence Heldreth, whose version of an Anglo-Saxon lyre sits in one of the locked cases. Heldreth experimented with constructing the sixth-century instrument for a class he taught at the center.
“Instruments are nice because you make something you can use or somebody else can use,” Heldreth said. “It’s got a really substantial sense of accomplishment when it makes noise, and you string it up, and it goes boing.”
University sophomore art major Amanda Toma has two pieces in the gallery, an untitled black and white photograph of a girl with dark makeup and a Bob Dylan screen print titled “Times they are a Changin’ 2.” Though her photograph was not taken through Craft Center programs, she applied what she learned through a Craft Center course with photographer Don May.
Toma sees the Craft Center as an opportunity to escape from her regular art schedule and explore new venues. “You can get away from regular classes and find something that you’re interested in and let go,” she said.
Glass technician Tim Jarvis’ bright yellow parody of a University call box was difficult to miss at the show.
“I have thought a lot about what these items mean for us as far as safety and whether or not it’s just an icon of safety,” Jarvis said. Last year, he made a glass fire extinguisher for the exhibit.
Jarvis said the call box took approximately 50 hours to construct, and he made many failed boxes before reaching the final product.
The Craft Center Staff Art Show runs through March 11th.
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