Albert Einstein once said, “Creativity is contagious, pass it on.” The Student Art in the Library exhibit might be an inconspicuous display, but is full of creativity begging to be passed on.
Inside the Paul M. & Marion T. Miles Reading Room Hodges 135, specially selected two-dimensional artwork has been hung on display for all to see. The selected artists represented have offered pieces drawn by pen and pencil, hybrid pieces made from string and oil paint, computer-generated art, photographs and even a piece constructed from book pages.
One might assume that exclusively art majors created the pieces in the exhibit, but in reality the creators are as unique and distinctive as the pieces on display — coming from a variety of majors and backgrounds.
Mackenzie Matthews, junior in sustainability, is one such student. Mathews described her piece, “For Harley,” as “a computer generated art piece of a stag skull painted in realism and cushioned in line art flowers.”
The piece has a lot of sentimental value for her, she explained, describing how it was originally created as a tattoo design for her brother. Each of the flowers that surround the stag skull are representative of attributes that reflect her brother as an individual and as part of their family, whether that’s “the sunflowers behind (their) house when (they) were kids, the wild blackberries (their) Papaw used to make the world’s best jelly … or a classic rose for [their] recently passed family matriarch, Granny Rose.”
Alaysia Jetter, freshman in graphic design, shared that she was surprised that her work was accepted given her self-described, comparatively inexperienced freshman status.
“I drew this piece in hopes of giving my audience something that I feel from time to time as a minority in America,” Jetter said. “’The Super’ in my art represents the white supremacy over minorities and how minorities do not receive the same luxuries and treatments as white Americans which we tend to overlook sometimes.”
Student Art in the Library began in 2005 as an outreach project between students and the university libraries. Allie Roberts, co-chair of the exhibit, reflected on how each year has gotten better and better.
“The quality of artwork has improved greatly over the years,” Roberts said.
She and her staff feel this year is no exception. One staff member, Megan Venable, believes this is an opportune time to increase foot traffic due to all of the campus changes and construction, and that this is a good way to bring more people into the space.
“With the University Center going offline, we’ve had far more traffic than we normally do coming into the library — so it’s a good time for this,” Venable said.
And timing is something another one of the selected artists, Mark Bender, senior in 2D studio art, knows about when it comes to rejection. Bender shared that rejection is simply part of the process of being an artist — but in time, good things will happen.
“After having a piece rejected for any number of reasons, the high that is achieved from a simple email saying, ‘yes please,’ makes up for months of disappointment,” Bender said.
With his piece, “Pink Cloud,” Bender says he “aims to capture not only a representation of (his) subject, but the emotional state (he) experiences while participating in that moment.”
The student’s work will remain on display until Dec. 1.
