Gallery • 7 Photos

Photos from the student art show! (All pictures were taken by Mary Ellen Lowney)

AIC’s Communication and Visual & Digital Arts students have opened their annual art show in the West Wing, where it will fill the room with vibrant color and deep meaning into the spring semester.

Professor John Nordell is responsible for putting on this impressive art gallery for his photography and cultivating creativity classes.

Nordell gave students in his Digital Photography and Cultivating Creativity several themes to choose from as they worked on the project. Themes were ‘I Have a Dream,’ ‘Noises Off,’ ‘Are Photographs Truth?’ ‘Collage Project’ and ‘Flag Project.’

Noises off is the AIC Theater Department’s major production this semester, showing the weekend after this art display opened.

Prof. Nordell explained his approach as he worked with students.

“A key goal of the Visual and Digital Arts Program is for students to express their ideas visually,” said Nordell.

“This exhibition connects the Visual and Digital Arts program with the Theater Arts program as students created art that represents concepts from the play Noises Off.  Student artists also read Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s speech I Have a Dream and then created art based on the imagery Dr. King painted with his powerful words,” he added.

The art show opening garnered much interest and praise, as students, faculty and staff admired the work and gave special attention to the write-ups each student artist included, showing their intent and process. Prof. Nordell gives the show a thumbs-up.

“Given the time constraints of framing the work and hanging the show in time for the performances of Noises Off, the pieces presented were culled from students’ midterm projects,” he said. “I am particularly proud of the quality of work as it was created mid-semester in two introductory courses, Cultivating Creativity and Digital Photography 1.”

AIC Senior Annie Norton, author of this piece, explained her own process in her piece, showing a row of flags in New York City. She based the work on the ‘I Have a Dream’ theme.

“I am a Communications student so being a part of this showcase and his classes was completely out of my realm of comfort,” Norton said. “Since I am a part of both classes I was responsible for creating art and taking professional photos for the show. I never thought I would be a part of an art show or let alone would have ever thought I would have my very own art hanging on a wall.”

She continued, “This was a very proud moment in my college career. Seeing my very own hard work hanging in our school’s art gallery was new found form of being proud on myself. There is an array of different art work in the gallery to homemade houses made out of at home things, collages, photographs, and more.”

The art show opening had support from fellow students, and faculty.

The feeling in the West Wing on opening day was welcoming and supportive.

Noises Off is the school play that is being performed by our theater students at the end of the semester.

The play is a comedic drama that deals with a lot of emotions. When looking at our art in the art show, visitors will notice a theme, everything that is showcased is based off an element or emotion from the play. The entire point of this was when the audience comes to see the play they can browse through the West Wing art and get a feel of the performance they are about to watch.

Many students’ art is showcased.

Freshman Allie Hough, who is from Long Island New York, has five things in the show.

“I was very excited about it because I thought I only had two things hanging, but it ended up being five things in total I created this semester,” she said.

“It was cool to see how far I’ve come since the beginning of the semester,” she added. “My favorite peace I created in the art show was a flag I created with a lot of colorful flowers around it, and it was very bright and happy and stood out in the art show. I named it ‘America The Beautiful’ because everyone is always on social media and inside now a days, and no one really takes the time to  go outside and look at the beauty around us.”