Student Artwork in Campus Galleries

Student+Artwork+in+Campus+Galleries

Scarlett Chu, Campus Reporter

At Kent, student artwork is regularly celebrated and displayed–and recently, there were several temporary art exhibits around campus that showcased stunning student pieces. 

Sacred Spaces featured many illuminated models created by A.J. von Brauchitsch ’20, Philip Dawson ’20, Chloe Hannan ’21, Livvy Mullins ’22, and Lexy Pryor ’21. The result of the students’ hard work was exhibited in the Baptistery of St. Joseph’s Chapel. 

Another exhibit, entitled Contemplating Dr. Martin Luther King’s Legacy; Identity, Community, and Empowerment, was something that happened “quite spontaneously,” according to Ms. Lynch. Several workshops on Martin Luther King Day created collages made from scrap magazines and newspapers. Student leader Pryor came to Ms. Lynch and asked about displaying the student work created in her workshop. After realizing Ms. Feller, Ms. Brody and Ms. Prickett’s workshops would do something similar, Ms. Lynch thought that “it made sense to do a large showcase and let other people who didn’t participate in the workshops admire them.”

 In contrast, the exhibit in stairwells of Foley Hall is very different. This installation is semi-permanent and will be up for five years. The project started last spring, involving almost eighty students. “The amount of effort generating those [maps],” says Ms. Lynch, “was an entire indicator,” hence the length of the exhibit correlates to the hard work students put into making these colorful maps.

 With all of the History Department’s faculty supporting the idea, they had the ivory walls of the staircase painted green and blue. “The students’ work is elevated in tandem with the renovation of the stairwells,” explains Ms. Lynch.

This exhibit was partly inspired by the former head of the Fulbright Scholar Program committee who claimed that there was a deficit in American education on geography. He came to Kent and discussed these ideas, saying they can bring geography into classes and rectify this problem. As a road traveler who had never taken formal geography classes either, Ms. Lynch took his feedback to heart, and every few years she tries to do a project based on mapping or conflict zones in the Art Survey classes. This exhibit is one of the biggest projects she has embarked on to bring world geography to light.

With several more exhibits already undergoing, Ms. Lynch strongly believes that the community will enjoy these installations Kent students poured their hearts into, and we are sure to reap the benefits of these beautiful works of art.