The Richardson Family Art Center houses exhibits students can observe at no cost. This allows students to see parts of the world that they may have otherwise never been exposed to.
The most recent exhibit on display is “The Shape I’m In: Tri State Sculptors Member Exhibition,” which was on display from Sept. 1 through Oct. 8. The exhibit displayed work from 50 of the 200 artists in the Association, including the work of seven Wofford students.
After being a member of the Association for five years, Michael Webster, associate professor of studio art at Wofford, jumped on the opportunity to host and provide students with professional experiences.
“With our art major being only in its fourth year, a lot of the professional experiences in art are new for Wofford students,” Webster ex-plained. “We’ve never had our art majors attend a conference like this and hope to have them travel to other conferences in the future.”
The seven Wofford students whose work is on display also joined the as- sociation recently.
These students include studio art majors Maggie Genoble ’24, Annie Heisel ’24, Yasmin Lee ’23, Car- rie Metts ’23 and Kate Timbes ’23. Also included are alumna Olivia Williams ’22 and studio art minor Jeanae Escobar ’24.
Escobar describes her piece as “experimental,” embodying darker tones than the pieces she usually creates.
“This is my first time exhibiting an art piece of mine, and it’s a bit of a nerve-wracking experience,” Esco- bar said. “I remind myself that, even if I don’t know what people think, they are still taking away something after seeing my work.”
She joined the association at the recommendation of her instructors and looks forward to seeing how this resource will allow her to make the connections necessary for success.
“If I were to pursue this medium further into my artistic career, my membership in the association could aid me in finding mentors, exhibi- tion opportunities, workshops, and other things of the sort,” Escobar said.
Lee has had several pieces on display and wants to use this opportunity to showcase a skill that she has recently learned: hot glass blowing.
She learned the skill at a Penland School of Crafts’ glass blowing workshop this summer, in which she spent two weeks in the mountains focusing solely on the craft of hot glass blowing.
“It’s so rare to gain a completely new skill,” Lee said. “It was like go- ing to Mars when I touched down in the hot glass blowing studio. I was learning how to do the craft as well as what the material communicates at the same time.”
She also presented at the conference during the “Five slides at five minutes” conversation hosted by Metts. She showed a video of her time at Penland as well as went into more detail about what the piece on display meant to her.
“I made 12 pieces, and I wanted to choose something that told a story,” Lee said. “Anything that has a narra- tive, I am interested. I made it with my partner at Penland after the first one shattered on us.”
Although disappointing, she ex- plained that this second attempt turned out better than the first and had a history attached.
She hoped to use the conference as a way of getting feedback on her piece from professionals, especially from one of the keynote speakers, Michaela Pilar Brown.
Brown, award winning artist and community advocate, spoke on Oct. 7 at 7p.m. in Leonard Auditorium. She also has a gallery, “Conterminous Elegies,” installed in the lower level of the Richardson Family Art Museum, which will be on display through the rest of the fall semester.
