Art Division Students Showcase their Spring Work (and enjoy a fashion swap)

On Saturday, May 24 2023 from 3 - 5 pm, the Art Division Gallery held an opening for new work by students in the Spring 2023 classes. All of the work in the show was created in class, with pieces from Abstract Painting, Drawing with the Brush, Drawing, Bookbinding, Printmaking, Advanced Printmaking, Photography, Collaborative Painting and Adobe Illustrator. The gallery and the printmaking studio were filled with students, family members and people from the community, all admiring the art and enjoying the chance to talk about their artistic journeys.

In the Paint Studio next door, students from the Film class held a public screening of their work, which ranged from documentaries to narrative pieces. The audience also had the opportunity to appreciate the musical compositions by students in the Music Production and Advanced Music Production classes. A standing-room-only crowd applauded every student’s work.

Meanwhile, in the gallery, Art Division student Essence Petty hosted a Fashion Swap, inviting all students to bring in their gently used clothing and shoes. Many students dropped off clothing, then stayed to build a summer wardrobe of new (to them) pieces. Bookbinding instructor Joel Freeman was so inspired that he created a book of clothing by putting each item in the photocopier, making giant color high-resolution copies, then attaching the pages at one end. Even newcomers to Art Division were drawn in by the fashion offerings, with one man, a newcomer to the community, scoring a superb pair of green corduroy overall hotpants.

Of course, Art Division’s in-house Mixologist Ellie Herman was on hand, offering a choice of fresh house-made Mocktails: a spicy grapefruit ginger fizz and a crisp, sweet No-jito. Though Ellie did not intend to participate in the Fashion Swap, having contributed nothing and frankly having very little fashion sense, she could not resist going home with a cropped fluffy cow-print jacket that will likely cause her to be the envy of all.

The Student Showcase will be open through June 10, 2023.