A culmination of hard work and self-exploration over college careers, the current senior art gallery exhibits a variety of pieces, all created by students attending CSU-Pueblo.
Open for the entirety of April and part of May, the gallery will be the last of the school year to be featured in the Fine Art Gallery and will fittingly go out in artistic style, packed with art ranging every possible style.
Showing off the work and imagination of the artists, this gallery is something special to the university as a direct symbol of what its students are capable of creating. These include classic painting, drawing, acrylic painting, digital art, photography, Photoshop, sculpture, ceramics, metals and woodwork.
Simply entering the gallery, one can witness the amount of work adorning the floors and walls of the gallery. To the right there is a wall covered with paintings, drawings and digital art. In the middle of the room sits a plethora of pieces, ranging from photography to sculptures. That’s just from looking through the entrance.
Assistant professor of contemporary theory and art history and gallery director Caroline Peters spoke lovingly about the gallery while examining the works. “It’s always one of my favorites,” Peters said, adding, “It’s always so different.”
The artists themselves are currently working on perhaps the hardest part, presenting their work to members of faculty. On April 15, the featured artists began working on their presentations, using them as an opportunity to reflect on their own accomplishments as well as display their own artistic identity to peers and superiors alike.
Art professor Vicki Hansen held what was a practice presentation session, allowing the students to feel out their own speeches in front of a room of fellow presenters. The work-in-progress speeches had strengths and weaknesses, but gave a strong glimpse into each presenter’s mindset and artistic vision.
It also gave a feel for the notable amount of diversity that is present in the gallery and in each person’s art.
Ras Christian Marker, an artist with several pieces featured in the senior gallery, detailed his past in the arts and his own personal code in life, ending with the poignant statement “Think freely and embrace art.” Some of Marker’s gallery pieces include hand-crafted sculptures titled “Waves” and “Mama Africa.”
Elizabeth Smith, a casual and comfortable speaker, talked about her own personal interests in relation to art, taking the very distinct path of a biology and art student. Smith’s featured pieces in the gallery reflected her interest in biology as they focused very much on the natural world, portraying various species of birds.
Wylie Grubitz described his art in colorful fashion calling it an interpretation of “the media influenced orgy of animation in my brain,” touching on the eccentric variety of his work. Some of pieces include works on the anatomy of guns, some which can be seen right at the entrance of the gallery.
All of the artists presented their years of work and all the different types of art they worked on throughout college, with everyone dabbling in a little of everything.
Their art spans various styles of art, including abstract, realist, surrealist, portrait, modernist, post-modern, and even works based off of pop culture, such as Alix Bowman’s Totoro whistle.
It also included several types of concepts including album art, book art, self-portrait and promotional art, with “All Pueblo Reads,” projects popping up a few times.
Hansen expressed great pride in her students and their presentations, adding that they all show great promise and showed off their art in solid focus.
The presentations are still gestating at the moment, but the students will continue to work towards the end of the year. Just like every student, their task isn’t quite done yet, but to get a glimpse at what they’ve accomplished to this point, one only needs to visit the Fine Arts Gallery.
The senior gallery will remain open throughout the end of the school year and will be open Monday through Friday, starting at 10 a.m.
