The breadth and diversity of work produced by faculty members in the Art Department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University will be on full display when the 2024 Art Faculty Exhibition takes over the Alice R. Rogers and Target Galleries on the SJU campus Aug. 27 through Oct. 9.
The exhibition is being held for the first time in three years. The exhibition will include a reception and artist talk scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. on Sept. 18 at the galleries. Both the exhibition itself and reception are free and open to the public.
This year’s exhibition is entitled “The Answer is a Good Question,” which springs from a quote by Sister Dennis Frandrup, OSB, professor emerita, who taught ceramics at SJU and CSB for over 30 years.
“We have these faculty exhibitions every few years,” said Elaine Rutherford, a professor in the department since 1998 and one of the artists whose work will be on display. “But we haven’t really had a unified theme before. We ended up landing on the quote from Sister Dennis because we felt like it really encapsulated the searching process artists go through.
“It’s a great opportunity to show our community and our students what we do in artistic practice when we’re not in the classroom teaching. I think it’s important that they get the chance to see how we work.”
This year’s exhibition will feature everything from sculptures to paintings, drawings and even an art essay.
“I think one of the things that will really come across is the wide range of work our faculty produce,” said professor of art Andrea Shaker, who will also have her work on display.
“It’s a chance to see some really interesting work.”
The exhibition is an opportunity for those not as familiar with the art department to find out more about it.
“We certainly hope there’s the possibility of building bridges with non-art students,” Shaker said. “It’s a chance for the wider community to ask questions and find out more about what we do.”
CSB and SJU Gallery Manager Becky Pflueger is excited to share the great things faculty members are working on to a wider audience.
“This exhibition is a really nice way to highlight that these aren’t just educators, they are also artists with very distinct voices,” Pflueger said. “And they are looking at important issues in our community.”
The faculty exhibition is the first in an exciting series of visual art exhibitions scheduled for the 2024-25 academic year.
The complete schedule is as follows:
Communication Through Observation (Sept. 2-Oct. 19)
Location: Gorecki Gallery, CSB
·Professionally trained artist and biologist Loren Eakins uses a varied lens to paint his experience in the natural world.
Do Not Bend (Oct. 22-Dec. 4)
Location: Alice R Rogers and Target Galleries, SJU
·Collaborating multi-media artists Kiera Faber and Jes Reyes orchestrate visual dialogues embracing vulnerability and trust while exploring implied narratives of loss, uncertainty and the complexities of the natural world.
Double Consciousness, Double Happiness (Oct. 28-Dec. 7)
Location: Gorecki Gallery, CSB
·Artist Anika Schneider reflects on how her understanding of her own Chinese identity is often shaped through others’ perceptions of her.
Yogi Not Yogi (Jan. 21-March 11)
Location: Alice R Rogers and Target Galleries, SJU
·David Ruhlman will feature paintings, found objects, sculptures and mixed media examining the “dual nature of the Yogi” – a fascination that began 20 years ago when he purchased a painting of a Yogi and Yogi Bear and was taken by the “duality of these figures and the outliers of belief.”
Naturally Curious: An exploration of nature, death, and sustainability (March 25-May 9)
Location: Gorecki Gallery, CSB
·An examination of the natural world and how it informs artist Kelly Meyer’s explorations in eco-printing.
Senior Thesis Art Exhibition (March 29-May 3)
Location: Alice R Rogers and Target Galleries, SJU
·Eleven students from both campuses will prepare and present a collective art exhibition of diverse study and materials, marking the culmination of each art major’s growth and focus while studying at CSB and SJU.
“I think we have a great roster scheduled for this year,” Pflueger said. “We’ve really tried to focus on diversity of media and I think each exhibition we have scheduled will be really fun, but educational at the same time.”