Laughter and smiles were abundant on Thursday, Feb. 19 inside the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, where family, friends, students and fellow faculty members were celebrating the opening of the Art department’s faculty show, Transmissions: Teaching and Learning in the Studio.
This is the first full faculty show at our neighboring museum, an exciting time for both the faculty of the Art department and for the Connecticut College community. With its close proximity to campus, it is surprising the number of students who haven’t ventured to the Lyman Allyn before, myself included.
The reception was held in the library, where most of the lively discussions between the artists and their friends and family took place, surrounded by live music, good food and the scent of worn books.
To show support, President Bergeron and her husband, Butch Rovan, along with Dean of Student Life, Victor Arcelus, were in attendance to discuss the works with the artists.
Professor Greg Bailey, the current chair of the department, made remarks about the hard work that everyone involved in the show contributed. He cited Pam Marks, professor of drawing, as being responsible for the show’s title.
Marks explained in more detail: “I first came up with the title Transmission and it was discussed and expanded upon by the entire art faculty. We are coming together for this exhibition as committed artists and educators. The research and learning that takes place in our studios is always in conversation with our teaching in studio art. We agreed upon Transmissions: Teaching and Learning in the Studio for an appropriate title.”
Their choice of the show’s title is also reflected in the close-knit community that Conn hopes to encourage between its faculty and students in and outside the classroom.
Sam Quigley, the director at the Lyman Allyn, also spoke at the opening and was grateful that the art department was finally having a full faculty showing. He ended his speech with an encouraging message: “Keep coming back and tell all your friends!”
I knew all the artists at the reception and therefore was not hesitant to approach them during the opening to compliment (gush over) their works. It allowed me the freedom to ask detailed questions about individual pieces. I learned that Professor Chris Barnard usually works on multiple paintings at once, and that the inspiration behind Bailey’s “Improvised Armour” was that he wanted to create art that in part could be bulletproof. Hearing and seeing the varied perspectives on each faculty member’s artistic process was intriguing—every professor approaches art with a different mindset. It was a great reminder that Conn’s art faculty are also working artists who produce their own works, besides being instructors.
In the first of three artist talks, Professor Chris Barnard, Professor Tim McDowell and Professor Pam Marks spoke about their various processes. McDowell reminded the audience that we are always students. This reiterates the artist statement for the show: “Art creation involves full time, life-long learning in the classroom and beyond. It is a dynamic that flows both ways, from teacher to student and back. Fresh viewpoints, new questions and surprising answers are the energizing results of the teaching and studio relationship. They bounce back to the individual artist fueling new work and shifting directions.”
Not only are there transmissions of ideas and energy being bounced back and forth between the students, but also between the faculty. This relationship allows for great discussions in the classroom, as part of being an artist is experiencing an exchange of ideas.
The exhibition will be up until June 7, and the show’s pieces comprise a wide range of mediums, from photography and paintings to video installation and sculpture. •
