Faculty in the Fines Arts Center exhibit recent work to encourage their students to express themselves. Photo by Grace DeSanti.
“Visual Thinking,” a new art exhibit featuring faculty artwork in the Fine Arts Center, is inspiring art students to continue studying art.
The Fine Arts Center asks their faculty members for recent work to put in the gallery every two years to show students and other faculty members the kind of work they do outside of teaching. The exhibit includes the work of faculty members in many different art departments in the Fine Arts Center, such as printmaking, three dimensional design, photography, painting, drawing and graphic design.
Some of the artists merged different disciplines of art to create their pieces. For example, Cindy Petruccillo, a photography professor, added a 3D butterfly amongst a swarm of 2D butterflies to her photography piece “Whisper.”
“One thing that is different about this show is that it is very inclusive, it includes so many faculty members,” Ben Anderson, an associate professor in three dimensional art and sculpture said. “There is always a lot of crossover in discipline. The thread that ties it all together is this idea of visual work and visual thinking.”
Anderson suggests that observers of the exhibit try to dig into understanding the point of view from the artists.
“A lot of times the piece should speak for itself,” Anderson said. “Between what’s there and what’s given in terms of title, it should provide enough information.”
According to Chyna Doughterty, a junior fine arts major, the bleak career outlook for art majors can be discouraging, however, seeing the hard work from her professors gives her hope.
“People make jokes like ‘Oh you are going to be a starving artist. What kind of jobs are out there for you?’” Doughterty said. “Then when we are in the FAC and we see our professors that have done something with what they taught themselves, it gives us something to look forward to.”
Although Doughterty fully appreciates the exhibit, she still wishes that more art was displayed around the campus, not just in the Fine Arts Center.
“Engineering, nursing and business, that’s the three top things,” Doughterty said. “I get it. That is what URI is structured towards so but it would be nice to have other majors to be represented. I think it would be cool if the Fine Arts Center and the faculty could have more places to show off their work in general.”
“Visual Thinking” is open for viewings Mondays through Fridays 12 to 4 p.m. in the Main Gallery in the Fine Arts Center.