From class to exhibition
Students in the School of Art collaborated with students in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies’ public history program to create artwork reflecting Arizona’s oldest botanical garden and its historical significance and unique sense of place in Professor Ellen Meissinger’s Art on Paper class. An exhibition featuring the works explored the unique community at Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the oral histories of the botanical garden.
Art summer camps
The School of Art presented 13 summer camps over a seven-week period and hosted more than 175 campers! Ranging in ages from 13-18, these campers produced photographs from film, created stop motion animations,created prints and oil paintings, carved spoons, practiced wheel throwing, examined and drew specimens, and much more.
Sustainable land art
The School of Art’s Cristóbal Martínez emphasized in a KJZZ interview that land art can be both impactful and doesn’t necessarily have to permanently alter the land. Postcommodity, an artist collective of which Martínez is a member, created a work called “Repellent Fence” – a miles-long line of floating balloons that stretched across the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Arizona, and only stayed up for four days showcasing how art can engage with the environment in a sustainable manner.
‘Anemia: Expressions of Subcultural Longing’
Curator Kadence Gonzalez, a student in the School of Art, shared insights from working on the exhibition “Anemia: Expressions of Subcultural Longing” in an interview with KJZZ 91.5. The show explored the fascinating and paradoxical emotion: anemoia (/an-uh-moya/). Defined as a sense of nostalgia for a time or place one has never experienced, anemoia captures the wistfulness of gazing at old photographs or imagining oneself in another era. Gonzalez highlighted how these feelings of longing can resonate deeply with audiences through art.
Student success
Audrey Springer, an art education major, received second place in the Tomalee Doan LibAid for Student Success award, which recognizes outstanding work. Springer is originally from Highlands Ranch, Colorado. She has worked for more than a year at Hayden Library’s Naturespace and Book Arts Studio, where she helps foster an inviting environment in Naturespace and instructs fellow students in using the newly launched Book Arts Studio space.