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Painting Students Prepare to Welcome Visitors to Studios During Open Studio Night in Savannah, Ga.
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11/11/2006 On Nov. 11, 5–8 p.m., 65 graduate and senior undergraduate painting students will welcome visitors to their studio spaces on the second floor of Alexander Hall, 668 Indian St., as part of Open Studio Night. The event, which takes place every fall and spring quarter, provides a rare opportunity for members of the public to glimpse how and where students create their art. From work in progress to completed pieces available for sale, from installations to paintings to prints, from chaotic studios to neatly ordered spaces, guests have the chance to see a variety of media, methods, techniques and approaches. Students in the painting department are gearing up for the event and anticipating a large crowd, thanks to publicity at the Telfair Art Fair Nov. 3–4 and in other venues.
"I expect to see more people from the community," said graduate student Patrick McGrath Muñiz. "This one is going to be pretty packed." The painting department held graduate quarterly reviews Nov. 3. Students who have completed 15 and 45 credit hours, respectively, meet with a panel of three faculty members to receive feedback on their work and qualify to continue in the master’s program. "It's a checkpoint, a review for candidacy before preparing for your master’s thesis," said graduate student Brienna McLaughlin. "The review is a chance for you to have about 45 minutes of feedback from professors. We're here to get advice, encouragement and guidance. Once we get out into the 'real world,' people aren't as helpful. This is the place to get constructive criticism, make sure we’re putting out our best work, and representing ourselves and the college the best we can." With that challenge behind them, students are fully focused on Open Studio Night, preparing to exhibit and talk about their work. "I came here to learn exciting techniques," said graduate student Sharon Lawrence. "I work in classical techniques and realism, but I also have become interested in the materiality of paint as an entity of its own — paint as paint instead of paint as an object, although I do paint objects too. My paintings are a metaphor for the interior spaces of me, my way of ordering my experiences, good and bad, and overcoming negative things. My work is always about really feminine, feminist, interior, domestic-type spaces." Taehun Lee, a graduate student from Seoul, Korea, focuses on an individual male figure in her acrylic and oil paintings. "My theme is metrosexual," she said. "I'm working with a really urban guy who likes to dress up, a sort of feminine guy, so I'm using a lot of ornamentation and patterns." McLaughlin's paintings feature betta fish trapped in small containers. "They're a non-heroic animal," she explained. "They're stacked on pet store shelves in little cups with no room to swim around. Stores put dye in the water to make the colors vivid, but it stresses the fish. In my paintings, I bring the fish into human scale; if they are as large as we are, we realize we couldn't comfortably fit inside these containers." In addition to providing a forum for students to display, discuss and sell their work, Open Studio Night spotlights the unique aspects and advantages of a floor dedicated to studio space. "We know it's a privilege to have these studios," said White. "I'm an undergraduate student, and having a studio is a huge deal to me, because otherwise I'd be working in my kitchen." Graduate student Edna Dapo said having a space dedicated to painting helps her work. "It's good because you have somewhere to go as soon as you get up," she explained. Working in close proximity to so many other artists also fosters creativity and enhances the quality of their work, according to several students. "I'm motivated to work when I see others work," said McLaughlin. "Having my 10-by-10-foot space is incredible … There's a lot of energy. It's a completely different world that we've created." The individual studios also reflect the characteristics and habits of the artists who occupy them. "The studio becomes an extension of the person, and it is frightening at times," said graduate student Jason Kofke. "It's a mirror of the inside of your soul, and sometimes you think, 'Wow! My soul is quite dirty.' I find it to be this strange little vestige of comfort and safety. In that little box, there are no problems." With the amount of time many students spend at Alexander Hall, the studios also assume aspects of living spaces. "It is your home away from home," said graduate student Jeff Tackett. "You spend more time here than you do watching TV, with your spouse or with your pet." "We're allowed to have fridges and microwaves, which makes it more convenient," Dapo said. "Morgan Shaffer almost made it like her house. She watches movies while she paints, and she always has blueberry juice." The building is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which allows students to use their studios and other facilities at the times most conducive to doing their best work. "I'm often here until 3 or 4 a.m.," said McGrath Muñiz. "It's always the same people at the same time — a group of under 10. There are no distractions, so it's the best time to work." The environment is often social and relaxed. "Usually I play music, and I always hear other people playing their own music," McGrath Muñiz said. "My neighbor Amy [Goldfarb] and I talk over the wall when we're working," said Dapo. "We had a lot of deep conversations, especially during the summer." Not only do students have individual studios, but they also have access to other resources in Alexander Hall, including a woodshop, printmaking facilities, a computer lab, a gesso room and a photographic documentation room. "It's a complete setup," explained Tackett. "We can work in the woodshop … and make frames. We have the means for the complete process, which is indicative of the professional process." These resources also reflect the diversity of media and techniques that characterize the SCAD painting department. "We're very eclectic," McLaughin said. "Everyone is working in a different vein. We all come together and share our passion for making art. It's so fantastic; we feed off each other. There’s a lot of cross-disciplinary work, even in painting; what is painting?" Students in the department create installations, sculptures and other 3-D work, as well as incorporating prints and photographs into their 2-D pieces. For Open Studio Night, "a few select students get to install work in the round," Tackett said. "What's good about this department is that they don't count out work in the round." Lawrence, who is a sculptor as well as a painter, said she plans to show a cube-shaped piece in her studio during Open Studio Night. "I really love art making," she said. "I've had a great time here." Students in the Savannah painting department also collaborated with the painting program at SCAD-Atlanta, which hosted its first Open Studio Night Nov. 9. Many Savannah students sent paintings and other work for display in Atlanta. In addition to the painting studios, guests at the event can view student work created through the New York City Workspace opportunity and pieces by featured alumna Lotte Segal (B.F.A., 2005). On the first floor of Alexander Hall, work by undergraduate painting students will be displayed, as well as work from students in the ceramics and printmaking minors, both of which also are housed in the building. Wheel-throwing and hand-building demonstrations will be offered in Studio 136, and a ceramics exhibition featuring holiday work will be on display in Studio 130. Live music will be provided by Lion Versus, a band whose lineup includes White on vocals and Kofke on viola. Refreshments will be served. Open Studio Night is free and open to the SCAD community and the public. Article by By Monique Bos, Chronicle staff writer. Photo by Charlie Ribbens.
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