Arts&Entertainment
:ist
rea
ibits bring
both old and new
into gallery spaces^
By Jason Hardy
Staff writer
Every day, thousands of student;
trek across campus and pass through th<
walkways and sculpture garden of th<
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery.
Many take a second to glanct
around at the sculptures, and some evei
venture inside to view the world
renowned collection.
But seldom has there been such;
direct link between the students of th<
University of Nebraska-Lincoln and th<
Sheldon as with this semester’s exhibi
schedule.
iwo separate events showcasing
student work are ^eluded in a line up o
exhibits that promise to be enlightening
from both an educational and entertain
ment standpoint.
“I always love it when the Sheldoi
Gallery really fulfills that function o
/highlighting student work because ou
students in this institution are toj
notch,” said Karen Janovy, educatior
curator for the Sheldon. “It’s also grea
for the public to see the kind of thing:
, that students are working on.”
The two exhibits focusing on stu
dent work are the MFA Biennia
Exhibition, a selection of work by cur
rent studio graduate students in th(
department of art and art history, and th<
MFA Portfolio: Past and Present, a col
laborative exchange between past anc
present printmaking students, all o
whom hra^orked with UNL profes
« sors Ka^Hpnc and Joseph Ruffo.
Jano^Waid it was a rare opportune
ty to see a variety of media and to expe
rience the collaborative spirit of the stu
dents and instructors involved with th<
•'4; ' ' ■' / ' #" •
printmaking program. ■ 4
“The two student exhibits really |||a
complement each other nicely W
. because they are past students and 11
. current students working with afl
[ faculty member who is interna-US
tionally acclaimed,” Janovy said, jm
Karen Kune, the aforemen-B
, tioned faculty member, said thefl
idea for the MFA Portfolio: Past^®
and Present came directly from the
, minds of her students.
. “My grad students thought of the
. idea, and it was a project they initiated a
[ couple of years ago,” Kune said. “They
knew of past graduates that have come
r and gone through the print shop, and
\ this is one way to reconnect them and
r have a project they can work on togeth
er.
in essence, tne portfolio is a coilec
t tion of work by current graduate stu
f dents and 16 alumni, all of whom creat
. ed pieces specifically for the portfolio.
, The artists made enough prints to trade
, with each of the portfolio’s contributors,
and Kune said she was proud to help
, with the project
“It’s wonderful. This is what you
want for them to do as a professional,
I and as soon as they’re not students,
they’re colleagues, so it’s a lifelong rela
. tionship,” she said. “I think I’m a link
. between all of these people. Not only
’ have I taught many of them, but I’m
I continuing on the legacy of this print
f shop, so it’s natural for me to partici
pate.”
While the MFA exhibitions are
. always a big semester highlight, Janovy
. said, the Sheldon had a number of other
. quality exhibitions on slate for the
, semester.
*S|P Recent Acquisitions
Jan. 7 - Feb. 20. 2000 8
>. :>Vr Parallel Perspectives
V:' •:: Early 20th Century
' : f American Art
i,:MFA Biennial Exhibition
|C1 19-Ms* 5,2000
Jan. 25- Man^, 2000
The Recent Acquisitions exhibit
will present more than 40 works that
have entered the Sheldon’s permanent
collection within the last two years, and
the Robert Henri and the Ashcan School
exhibit will showcase more than 50
works by Henri in the context Of both
artist and teacher.
While both of the aforementioned
exhibits are composed of work from the
Sheldon’s permanent collection, the
Parallel Perspectives: Early Twentieth
Century American Art exhibit features
work from die collections of both the
Addison
Gallery of American Art, a division of
the Phillips Academy in Andover,
Mass., and the Sheldon Art Gallery. The
exhibit was fust shown at the Addison
Gallery and will be featured at the
Sheldon from Feb? 25 through May 9.
Janovy said by combining the two
museums’ collections, a more compre
hensive look was created in early 20th
century American art An accompany
mg
symposium will discuss the value of
an exhibition like this.
“We’ll discuss issues of how this
came about; what is American art; how
is it different from other art; how do
these exhibitions come together and
what is the role of the curator and the art
historian,” she said. “The Sheldon’s col
lection is one of the most important in
die entire nation, and I think it’s impor
tant for students to know why.”
' /’ ' v.. V V I