A question many college grads ask themselves is: four years in college and what do I have to show for it (besides loans)? The graduating studio art majors get a chance to show the public what exactly they have to show for college at the B.F.A. exhibit at USM’s art gallery in Gorham.
There is a wide range of art major concentrations on display, including ceramics, digital art, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and sculpture.
There was a reception to mark the opening of the exhibit on Friday, April 17th from 6-8 p.m. The artists got a chance to represent their work at the gallery while the public, family and friends had a look at their art.
The range of concentrations makes the exhibit very diverse with many different
mediums. There is everything from traditional still-life paintings to digital video productions. Marc McCourt did a very original screen print on a scroll of the transformation between human and robot.
There were a couple of digital art exhibits; Colin Feeney did a work of computer graphics animation and Colby Walker Perrine did a piece of stop motion animation with a pile of wood.
The art wasn’t contained to 2-D art either; Meredith Kendrick Davis did two interesting sculptures of women, one almost life-size. Both of the sculptures have bare breasts, though one of the women looks angry and vindictive while the other is melancholy and crying.
Davis says the larger sculpture, which depicts a woman naked from the waist up, crying, smoking and surrounded by pills and empty beer bottles, is her favorite piece.
“It’s about a sad housewife,” says Davis. “It’s an installation piece made mostly from clay, but also some other found objects.”
For many of these graduating art students, this is one of the first times they have gotten to display their work in an exhibit such as this. Davis says she feels like the art she has been doing for the last four years has been somewhat of a secret, even to some of her friends, because she hasn’t had many chances to show it off.
“The show is just a good chance to let everyone see what I’ve learned as an artist and a person, and what I’ve really been up to,” says Davis. “I haven’t shown my work much, so I’m glad people are finally seeing what I’ve been doing while hiding in the Robie-Andrews basement all these years.”
For most of these artists, these pieces in the exhibition represent their growth, change and improvement over the years as an artist and student.
“I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished as an undergrad. I feel that my ideas and my style have vastly improved since my freshman and sophomore years,” says Davis. “I started out making small pottery. Now I have enough confidence and experience to build sculptures like the life-size figure displayed in B.F.A. show- which is the biggest surviving piece I’ve ever built (the biggest blew up in the kiln).”
Many of the graduating art students have mixed feelings about being done with college; some are ready to face life after college and move on to graduate school or work, while some are apprehensive about what the “real world” entails, as well as the pile of student loans waiting to be paid. Most of the students agree that college has overall been a wonderful experience, and a lot of it is due to the people along the way.
“I think the thing that has made being in school totally worth it has been the people I’ve met,” says Davis. “I have wonderful friends and teachers who’ve taught me so much about art and life.”
As for life after college? Many of the students are excited about their art and what they are going to create in the future.
“When I get my degree, I’m definitely going to take some time off. I’m exhausted,” says Davis. “After a short break, I’m considering grad school, or some residency programs, or maybe both. We’ll see.”
The B.F.A. exhibit will run from Friday, April 17 through Sunday, May 10 in the Gorham Art Gallery. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday-Friday, and 1-5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, call Carolyn Eyler at 207-780-5008 or visit www.usm.maine.edu/gallery.