Please Join Us for Divergent Generation

The senior undergraduates of the Department of Art would like to invite you to Divergent Generation, the culmination of the Exhibition Design class, and for those student who will be graduating this spring, their studies here at Pitt State. The exhibition in the Harry Krug Gallery here at Porter Hall was organized, designed, and installed by the student artists: Gretchen Burns, David Bush, Hannah Coward, Jacqueline Denton, Molly McVey, Jessica Purevich, Robert Raio, and Whitney Reeves.

Please join us in Porter Hall to hear the artists lecture on their work this Thursday, April 28th, starting at 4pm. Therewill be speaker from 4-5pm and 6-7pm, with a reception in between. Divergent Generation will be on display in Porter Hall until Friday, May 6th.

Read an Interview with Professor Emeritus Marjorie Schick on Art Jewelry Forum

Art Jewelry Forum recently published an interview of Pitt State's own Marjorie Schick by artist/designer Matt Lambert. Schick creates bold and colorful wearable art, and has taught in Pitt State's Department of Art for nearly 50 years. Lambert begins the interview, titled "Who's Afraid of Marjorie Schick?," by describing Schick's work:

"Gaudy. Oversized. Humorous. 'So American.' Marjorie Schick has been making louder work than anyone else in the field for the last 55 years. She also worked with performance as early as 1977, and tested the idea of integrating wearable elements into static, sculptural objects before everyone else, while also flirting with the vernacular of fashion. Today, she stands as a model of fearlessness for a younger generation of jewelers interested in the radical scale and colors of her work."

Read the entire interview on the Art Jewelry Forum website.

Gwen Walstrand and Sarah Perkins Artists' Talk

The Pittsburg State University Department of Art invites you to welcome photographer Gwen Walstrand and metalsmith/enamellist Sarah Perkins to campus this week to talk about their work currently on display in the University Gallery of the Pittsburg State University Museum of Art. Walstrand and Perkins, both professors from Missouri State University, will give a presentation at 3pm on Thursday, April 21st, to be followed by a reception in the Harry Krug Gallery from 4-6pm. The exhibition, Cairo, Illinois, will be on display through May 6th. 

Gwen Walstand and Sarah Perkins Exhibition Statement:

“Driving through what remains of Cairo it appears to an outsider that most of the town, along with its historic buildings and extensive business district, was abandoned within the same year, as nearly all the structures are in the same state of decay. In actuality, many events and circumstances caused precipitous decline of Cairo. The town’s history includes booming success as a shipping town at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, elegant hotels and mansions, and an impressive business district. The more recent history is one of race riots, appalling violence, multiple lynchings, domination by white supremacist groups, and eventual boycotts of local businesses by African Americans. The 1920s city of over 15,000 people now is home to under 3,000 people, hundreds of strangely patched up, decaying buildings, and a handful of struggling businesses.

The enameled bowls are a response to not only the reality of present day Cairo, but also to the images of it that were chosen by the photographer. The work seen together offers insight into the working processes of the artists and the choices made by different viewers. The photographer gathers and selects visual material; the metalsmith/enamellist edits the material again and transforms the flat images into three dimensions, but on a functional form that speaks to basic human requirements. The photographs, as both independent images and references for the bowls, are aesthetic explorations of Cairo but with an attempt to consider more deeply the complexity of human histories that form such places.”

Sketchbooks from Structural Anatomy and Figure Drawing

The Structural Anatomy and Figure Drawing course (ART 433) is a required course for studio art majors at Pitt State. This class focuses on analysis of the human figure with an emphasis on structural anatomy through drawing, and the study of the skeleton and muscle groups as they affect volume and outward appearance. At various points in the course, students draw from a model, skeleton, anatomical casts and memory.

Image from sketchbook of Luis Calderon

This semester, students in this class began working in their sketchbooks to learn the skeleton and organization of the figure.  They have moved on to drawing from the model, but continue to work regularly in their sketchbooks. Below are a few sample images from two student sketchbooks.

Image from sketchbook of Luis Calderon

Image from sketchbook of Luis Calderon

Image from sketchbook of Luis Calderon 

Image from sketchbook of Mattie Parrigon 

Image from sketchbook of Mattie Parrigon

Image from sketchbook of Mattie Parrigon

Slipcasting in Pitt State Sculptural Ceramics Class

Slipcasting is a technique that allows sculptors and ceramicists to make multiple copies of the same object. As plaster mould is created, into which clay can be poured to create a cast of that mould. A few years ago, faculty member S. Portico Bowman attended a moldmaking and slipcasting workshop hosted by Bracker's ceramics and led by world renowned artist Andrew Martin. She is now bringing this technique to students in PSU ceramic classes, along with Professor Malcolm Kucharski, who has perfected our slip casting recipe. Below are images of undergraduate students Whitney Reeves and Redd Williams exploring the technique for Bowman's Sculptural Ceramics class.

Whitney (left) has plans for a multi-tiered sculpture and Redd (right) will create an installation piece.