School of Art & Design's 5th Annual Faculty Exhibition
Slusser Gallery, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd, 1st floor
Through January 30
Open 9 a.m to 5 p.m.

At the School of Art & Design’s 5th Annual Faculty Exhibition, artists stepped outside their boundaries to connect with the new vision and direction of School of Art & Design Dean, Bryan Rogers.

“Young faculty inspired and pushed the old to approach new ways of thinking, creating a unique synergy unlike any other faculty show,” said Mark Nielsen, director of exhibitions at the Slusser Gallery.

The exhibition runs until Jan. 30 in the Slusser Gallery in the Art and Architecture Building on North Campus and features 35 faculty artists and designers. It provides student audiences a chance to take a closer look at the personal work of their professors.

From Jim Cogswell’s eight-panel shelf paper wall display to Heidi Kumao’s digital interpretations of everyday objects to Louis Marinaro’s powerful metaphors displayed in painted bronze, a single peek inside the gallery doors reveals a variety of mesmerizing works that challenge traditional art.

“The artists really pushed themselves into new spaces this year,” Nielsen said.

Cogswell’s piece, O Reader, stemmed from a passage in Italo Calvino’s novel "If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler" and past work with dancer Peter Sparling. The work transforms each letter into a unique artistic creation that challenges the idea of textual reading while using everyday materials like adhesive shelf paper. The use of common office items in the piece invites those who don't normally identify with art into the creative magic.

Kumao’s Correspondence also uses an everyday object to create its magic. Through her digital work, a simple white envelope enclosed in a glass bell jar acts as multiple settings and transforms the ordinary into something remarkable.

Marinaro’s Woman with Two Rocks is a painted bronze sculpture depicting a nude woman with a brown sack over her head holding a rock in each hand. The work transcends the literal interpretations usually associated with sculpture and manages to express an inexpressible emotion.

“You know what he is saying but can’t quite articulate it,” Neilsen said.

With these three works among a host of others, the exhibition promises to astound. Nielsen partially attributes the show’s innovative display to the new curriculum and outlook adopted recently by the School of Art & Design.

“People reflect the state of the institution they are a part of,” he said. “And with Bryan Roger’s new focus on bringing creative thinking to every walk of life, the faculty’s works are reflecting this change just as much as the students.”

Teaching since 1990, Jim Cogswell agrees that the changes within the program are directly affecting the faculty.

“I think it is impossible to be part of a staff and not be influenced by the transformations occurring within it,” Cogswell said. “Artists are like sponges. Whether consciously or unconsciously, the huge diversity, part of what the school is about right now, has brought a new energy to the show this year.”

Even with the show's energy, Cogswell is not fully convinced that students are taking advantage of the opportunity.

“I sometimes worry students aren’t terribly interested in what we are doing. Not many students have come up to me to comment on my piece or any other professor’s work,” Cogswell said. “It is not that I am upset by it, I just want my students to understand that you are never doing this alone in the art world. It is always a conversation.”

For growing artists, perhaps it's not always clear that the work of other artists can directly and positively influence their work.