Art department painting up something new this semester

Home Culture Art department painting up something new this semester

The art department’s plans for this semester include a new Digital Illustration course, a field trip to the ArtPrize exhibition, and visiting artist and student exhibits.

Digital Illustration, a new course this semester, was designed so that students who enjoyed studio art, like drawing and painting, could combine this interest with computer graphics. The class is designed to be appealing to both beginning students and those with some level of skill, so that anyone can take it.

The course was started this semester by Professor Bryan Springer who has been teaching computer graphics in the art department for six years.  Springer said that he wanted to give students the opportunity to make pictures using the computer. He hopes to teach this course again next year.

ArtPrize is a massive art competition in Grand Rapids where artists set up their work all along the streets and inside office buildings. Prizes are awarded based on popular vote.

In addition to new classes, the department is also planning to sponsor a bus trip to ArtPrize on a Friday between Sept. 24 and Oct. 12. The trip is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 3. Departmental Photographer Doug Coon plans to showcase some of his photography. The art department is now working on finalizing the details of the trip.

This month, a selection of pieces from the Perception Gallery in Grand Rapids is featured in the Daughtrey Gallery. During homecoming season, Brian Curtis will be displaying his paintings in the Gallery. Curtis used to be a professor here at Hillsdale in the early 1980s and later went on to become Head of Graduate Painting Studies at the University of Miami in Florida. His works explore the beauty of Stonehenge in a series of paintings both large and small. These will be up for anyone to view from Oct. 3 to Nov. 9.

At the end of the semester, two Senior Art Exhibits will be displayed for art majors graduating early. Seniors Margaret Smith and Katherine Helmick will show their Senior Art Exhibits from Nov. 17 to Nov. 24.

“They’re really all about fundamentals and being able to see well and it just fits in with the liberal arts mission of Hillsdale so well,” Helmick said, of the work she plans to exhibit.

Helmick’s artwork will be mostly photography with some pieces from other areas, while Smith has pieces from all different areas including digital illustration, pen and ink, textiles, sculpture and drawing.

“This has been really a wonderful place to be able to grow and learn how to better use artistic talents,”  Smith said.

Art department chair Barbara Bushey encourages non-art majors to come and take classes to see if they have an interest in the area.

“Everybody is of course welcome and we like to see lots of people down here that maybe we haven’t seen before,” Bushey said.