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Art show in Vardell displays faculty talent
by Donna Sammander
The September 17th opening of
the Faculty/Staff Art collections show in
Vardell Gallery was a success, There is
still time, until September 27th, to see
the pieces on display, contributed from
the collections of our faculty and staff.
But if you did not attend the unveiling
of the show to its audience, you missed
the magic of seeing people discover (and
rediscover, in the Contributors’ case)
these objects of curiousity, mementos of
travel, childhood and friendship.
As people toured the duskily-lit
gallery, munching on grapes, cheese and
crackers, many lingered to focus on
points of interest. English Professor, Ted
Maier, lifted his Equadorian pan flute
from the wall and put it gently to his lips
in demonstration for the students who
surrounded him. Here and there, fin
gers were lifted in inquiry, chins were
stroked and eyes widened with sudden
insight and admiration toward the paint
ings, textile and sculpture on display.
Lined against one wall were a se
ries of “Eloise” books from the collec
tion of Ann Kurtzman, director of Com
munications, who, along with Professor
Margaret Houston, and Ran Xiaoqun,
Professor of Chinese sat gracefully on
the carpet turning the pages. Students
mused over Professor Bushoven’s vol
umes of Found Poems, poetry that was
created by selecting book titles fi'om a
library card catalog.
As one of the crew who set up the
show, under the direction of Professor
Stephanie McDavid, I was thrilled to see
our labor and frustration rewarded by
such interest and curiousity in the final
display.
To prepare a gallery for a show
and then to set the show up is a process
apart from welcoming folks to its open
ing night. When Professor McDavid
first pushed open the gallery door, a
week before the show, patchy grey walls
and plastic-covered floor confronted us.
So we pulled the nails from previous ex
hibitions and plastered the crumbly
patches and holes in the wall. The next
day, we rolled paint onto the repaired
wall s/(rface- all the while wearing black
garbage bags for protection. Finally the
walls refreshingly clean in their grey
paint. There was, however, little time
to exult. As soon as the walls were dry
and the paint less odorous, we were ham
mering and nailing so that Vardell ech
oed with metallic thuds and, occasion
ally, squeals of pain over a hammered
thumb.
Since the gallery walls, from ceil
ing to floor, measure almost eight feet,
we calculated eye-level distance from
the ground up and pinned string along
that point on all walls. Underneath the
string and tilted against the wall were
the paintings and hangings which we
arranged and arranged side by side ac
cording to colour intensity, size and gut
feeling. With such an eclectic collec
tion of work, ununited by either make
or style, we had to consider each piece
as it complemented its neighbor and put
it in a place. For its length and pure white
background, we hung Professor Mel
Bringle’s Oriental banner alone on the
first panel of wall. A motif of similar
colours unite the wall throughout the
pieces, building toward greater intensity
of colour. Please compare the tinge of
magenta on the banner to its full blast in
Professor Margaret Houston’s Guatema
lan Huipel on the same wall.
Please take notice of spacing and
painting/sculpture placement as well in
a gallery. A floor can look cluttered, and
a wall crowded without consideration of
an object’s size in relation to its neigh
bor. In the case of the above-mentioned
wall, we hung each painting on the eye-
level line but centered them according
to the one preceding it. This might seem
like a pain-staking process, dependent
on mathematical calculations and requir
ing an endless shifting of pieces to fit
space. Perhaps it is. But we were able
to set up the show very decisively.
The Faculty/Staff Art Collection
is the first of more shows to come to
Vardell Gallery. Themes for future
shows were being generated at this one’s
opening so keep watch for them.
Encore does it again
by Kate Brady .
Encore theater company has long been producing shows, musi
cals and plays in SAPC’s “LA Auditorium.” The productions provide
both the outside community and SAPC students with oppourtunites to
get involved in theater. Casts have varied, including young children
and experienced actors. The shows are varied enough to have some
thing for everyone.
Last spring’s production of “The Wizard of Oz” was directed by
Senior Chris Swain. Recently, Encore has concluded a production of
William Gibson’s “The Miracle Worker, which ran from Sept. 6-15.
Auditions have just been completed for Timothey E. Locklear’s
musical review “An Enchanted Evening” to be staged at the end of
October. Theis show iwll include music from Rogers and Hammerstein,
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Disney music for the children.
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