SVSU’s art gallery currently has artwork on display from various faculty and staff members.
The SVSU Faculty Art Exhibit consists of art of all forms, including photography, sculpture, drawing, ceramics, graphic design, painting, mixed media and digital imaging. A total of 19 faculty and staff participated in the event.
The exhibit gives faculty and staff an opportunity to set aside time for themselves to express their creativity as opposed to solely focusing on teaching new information and techniques to their students. Not only does the exhibit allow faculty and staff to show off their creative side, but it also puts things into perspective for art students, showing them where they can end up.
“[I hope my students will learn that] viewing the world with inquisitiveness and a touch of wonder can inspire the creative process and that it is exciting to explore new ideas and ways to express them,” said art professor Shaun Bangert.
In addition, the Art Faculty Exhibit allowed the faculty and staff to share something that holds much importance to them with the SVSU community. Art professor Mike Mosher chose to share a series of paintings created with acrylics and bronze leaf on vinyl fabric titled, “Black Milt Matters.” The series was inspired by the killing of Milton Hall by seven Saginaw police officers in 2011.
“I believe any incident where the state takes the life of a citizen is worthy of artwork,” Mosher said.
Art professor Andrea Ondish submitted a work of textured relief surfaces, consisting of vinyl spackle on canvas that is later painted and drawn on top of.
“As far as the physical aspect of the artwork, I am intrigued by weathered surfaces, rusticated or damaged surfaces, layering of paint, random unplanned mark making, and raised textures on a surface,” Ondish said.
Art professor J. Blake Johnson depicted his experience in China through the use of graphic design with adhesive vinyl on wood. Johnson shared what he learned, saw and experienced by creating boards with graphically designed collages. The three boards represent the hectic traffic in China, Chinese symbols of luck and China’s ancient history.
“I based the three pieces on my experience in China. I was able to teach as a visiting professor for Shenyang Aerospace University this last summer,” Johnson said.
Bangert decided to show an aspect of travel from a different point of view than many usually see. Bangert captured images of the geometric patterns created by rivers and canyons in the southwestern areas of the United States.
“Using my iPhone, I photographed what I was seeing below until the forms disappeared. I have flown a similar route four times over the past year and have continued to photograph that unusual landscape,” Bangert said.
As each artist has their own creative eye, he or she also has differing views on the meaning of expression through art.
“Each individual has a unique perspective, based on factors of life (generation, class, ethnicity, faith, family, reading and life experiences),” Mosher said. “If that individual is an artist, then she or he must gain knowledge of her or his own uniqueness, and develop the skills to express it to the fullest – that’s the burden history places upon every artist.”
The exhibit is on display until Feb. 10. The gallery is free to the public and open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.
