Student Art Exhibition Opens Tuesday at Portlock Black Cultural Center

“Our Visions: Art by Lafayette Students,” an exhibition of prints, paintings, digital images, sketches, and sculpture, will be displayed April 22-May 16 at the David A. Portlock Black Cultural Center, 101 McCartney St.

Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Curated by art major Krista Catalano ’03 (Greenwich, Conn.), the exhibit will showcase art majors Martin Brecht ’03 (Greensburg, Pa.), Paul Germain ’04 (Coral Springs, Fla.), Jared Mast ’04 (Easton, Pa.), Chris Metzger ’03 (Lisbon Falls, Maine), Janice Truszkowski ’03 (Phillipsburg, N.J.), Michelle Wiater ’03 (Berlin, Conn.), Maura Oliphant ’03 (Chatham, N.J.), Megan Bodtke ’03 (Franklin Lakes, N.J.), Kristin Harpine ’03 (Dumont, N.J.), Gabriel Fernandez-Obregon ’03 (Ridgewood, N.J.), and Alyssa Nicoletti ’03 (Orange, Conn.), as well as psychology major Thomas Sheehan ’03 (Clifton Park, N.Y.). Germain also is majoring in English, Harpine in psychology, and Oliphant and Nicoletti in anthropology and sociology.

The students will briefly discuss their works during an opening reception at the Portlock Center 5-7 p.m. Thursday, May 1.

The exhibit is intended to showcase the many talented and well-rounded student artists at Lafayette, according to Catalano.

“I was interested in organizing a show exhibiting student work because I feel that there is so much art being created, especially now with the newly built Visual Arts Building downtown, and these works are not easily accessible,” she says. “I wanted to organize a show where people can actually see what some of these students have been up to.”

The exhibition is part of Catalano’s work as an EXCEL Scholar with Curlee Raven Holton, associate professor of art, at Lafayette’s Experimental Printmaking Institute, which Holton founded and directs. It also follows up on an independent study she conducted on computer design and arts management under Holton’s guidance.

“ ‘Our Visions,’ has been an incredible learning experience,” says Catalano. “I have realized how much really goes into organizing a professional art show. As the curator, I cannot skip a beat; I need to be in touch with each artist daily and keep track of contracts, the art work that is going to be submitted, and even be concerned with finding a place to put the art work once the show is over. I greatly appreciate the help I have received from Professor Holton and Susan Ellis, director of programs at EPI.”

“It has been a joy to work with these artists so far. I cannot wait to install their works and see them in a real gallery setting. This project represents the culmination of all that I have learned as a student here at Lafayette. As a senior soon to be graduating, I am honored that I am able to have this show be a symbol of closure for me of the last four years.”

An English minor, Catalano recently assisted with the “Women Artists of the Experimental Printmaking Institute” exhibit at the Portlock Center. She also is a participant in the Master Artist/Master Printmaker Project as an administrative assistant, documenting progress and meeting with a group of artists that includes Richard Anuszkiewicz, with whom she completed an art internship. Last semester, she mounted an exhibit by Holton at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, N.J., and assisted with an exhibit at Dizyners Gallery in Philadelphia that includes works from the EPI collection. She is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and works as an assistant to Susan Ellis, director of programs at EPI. She plans on a career in arts management or the advertising and media industry.

Martin Brecht ’03 is a painter and printmaker. He has served as a teaching assistant, studio apprentice, and EXCEL Scholar for Holton and the Experimental Printmaking Institute, including participation in Master Artist/Master Printmaker. He was a four-year letter winner and starter as a place kicker on the varsity football team. He plans on pursuing a career in the arts and art education.

Paul Germain ’04 is working on an independent study advised by Ross Gay, Dean of Humanities Fellow, about the study of desk graffiti as an aesthetic art form. He has been collecting, studying, and analyzing examples of graffiti from Skillman Library and is planning a brown bag at the end of the semester to outline what he hopes will become an interdisciplinary honors thesis in English and art. He is social chair/musical director for Hillel Society, a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, a news reporter for The Lafayette, and an actor in the improvisational group “Sofa King Funnies.” He has recently been selected as a McKelvy Scholar and was photographed for the “American Memory Project” by Bill Hayward ’65.

Jared Mast ’04 enjoys 20th century abstraction, especially the work of Klee, Twombly, Hoffman, Rothko, et al. As an EXCEL Scholar with Gay, he is exploring aesthetic theories in history and putting his thoughts on canvas in a creative project centered on the concept of the sublime. A member of Lafayette’s new Spoken Word Ensemble, his interests include music, film and Russian literature.

Chris Metzger ’03 is interested in digital art and graphic design. He has been involved in numerous projects at Lafayette, both individually and collaboratively, including current work for Master Artist/Master Printmaker and a mural project. He was one of seven students who worked with a professional sculptor and painter to produce a 6.5-foot concrete sculpture that also functioned as a printing press, printing paper placed between the sections of concrete. As an EXCEL Scholar with Holton at the Experimental Printmaking Institute, he has had the opportunity to explore advanced digital technology and its application in traditional printmaking processes. While studying abroad in London, he interned at a graphic design company, the Design Distillery. Upon returning to Lafayette, he interned at Kraemer Design in New York City. Metzger is undertaking an honors thesis on the inclusion of digital art as a fine art form, exploring digital art and its impact on the contemporary art scene. His work is strongly influenced by hip-hop culture and “attempts to explore the cultural significance of this music and culture.” These experiences have led him to apply to graduate school for graphic design and digital media, and he is seeking related work in the art field.

Marquis Scholar Janice Truszkowski is working as an EXCEL Scholar with Ed Kerns, Eugene H. Clapp Professor of Humanities and Art, on collaborative digital prints that will be featured in an exhibition opening May 4 at Ahlum Gallery in Easton. Her EXCEL work with Kerns has included extensive collaboration in his studio. She is conducting an honors thesis in studio art in which she created and illustrated her own children’s book. She is a participating artist in the Iris Bogaert Memorial Scholarship art poster project, and has works in both the temporary collection of the admissions office reception area and permanent collection of the Dean of Studies Office in Markle Hall. She has studied Celtic art and culture in Ireland. Truszkowski received the Vivian B. Noblett Prize, given to an art major who has demonstrated proficiency in painting and drawing, and who shows potential for future achievement, as well as the Scholar of the Year Award from the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Lafayette Alumni Association.

Michelle Wiater is graduating with a minor in anthropology and sociology. A native of Colombia who has lived in Guatemala most of her life, she exhibited some of her work back home, consisting of oil paintings of architecture and landscapes from Central America. She has taken several independent studio art courses on the theme of architecture and landscape. Wiater worked last year as an EXCEL Scholar with book artists at the Experimental Printmaking Institute. She is currently working at EPI to create brochures for visiting artists. In October, for a record fourth year in a row, she and Shivani Malhotra ’03 won the women’s two-on-two intramural basketball tournament.

Maura Oliphant ’03 is part of a Technology Clinic class developing an unguided tour at Bachmann Publick House in downtown Easton involving enhanced exhibits that would most likely blend MP3, barcode, and pocket PC computer technology to create an interactive experience. She is conducting an independent study under the guidance of Andrea Smith, assistant professor of anthropology, on the state management of foster care in Ireland.

Megan Bodtke ’03 has studied art and fashion extensively at Lafayette, Parsons School of Design, and Fashion Institute of Technology. She has worked with clothing designers at companies such as Kenneth Cole, in the buying office at Henri Bendel, and at Howard Scott Gallery in New York City. She is working on an honors thesis combining digital imaging, painting, and collage of the ocean.

Gabriel Fernandez-Obregon ’03 has used skills in music and graphic design to create a full production music album as an honors thesis. The project includes creation of a graphically designed jewel case and booklet as well as an assortment of promotional media, such as posters and designs for shirts.

Kristin Harpine ’03 and Jackie Bingham ’03 (Lunenburg, Mass.) developed a logo and marketing campaign to clean up downtown Easton as part of an independent study. She designed art used to promote this year’s Concert Choir holiday concert.

Thomas Sheehan ’03 is one of a dozen students whose sculpture recently was on display in an area adjacent to the Special Collections Reading Room at Skillman Library. His poster art is on display at Allentown Art Museum in connection with an exhibit of Edward Weston photos. Other students in “Our Visions” have had art selected for both of these venues as well.

Alyssa Nicoletti ’03 also had a sculpture displayed in the recent exhibit in the Skillman Library Special Collections Reading Room. Last school year, she was part of a student team in the Qualitative Methods of Research anthropology and sociology course that filmed a brief video documenting “extreme sports” participants in skate boarding, in-lane skating, and BMX bikes at an Allentown skate park.