art – The Transcript

Artist Carlos Fresquez comes to OWU

OMSA had Carlos Fresquez come to OWU to talk about his artwork that has been displayed in the Beeghly Library. He visited on April 2, 2019 at 6:30 PM in the Bayley room. Fresquez presented a slideshow that started from his younger days to the present on how he experienced racism, which is in some of his art and how he was influenced by pop culture. Go take a look at his artwork!

Gallery 22 brings art to Delaware

Ela Mazumdar, Transcript Reporter

Restaurants, ice cream shops and antique shops line Delaware’s street, but it is important to take note of a new establishment which has become a part of town just this past month.

Gallery 22, a local art gallery, is centrally located on East Winter Street across from Mi Cerritos, Veritas and 1808. It is now holding exhibits and adding character to what many residents of Delaware refer to as “the cultural block” of the town.

An exhibit called “Confederate Currency: The Color of Money” features the works of artist John W. Jones and depicts intricately painted people and currency based on the Civil War period. This exhibit is on loan from the Ross Art Museum and was coordinated by Tammy Wallace.

Every six weeks the exhibits are changed and feature a variety of different artists, including some professors from the OWU community. The gallery is open Fridays and Saturdays from 6-8:30 p.m. but is hoping to expand its hours over time.

The Gallery is a place for artists to work at affordable studios and for the public to see new exhibits and buy art. Currently, this gallery is also giving away free art books. The gallery also actively calls in artists and guest speakers and has wine and cheese nights on the first Friday of each month to meet and greet new artists.

Gallery 22 is run by the Delaware Arts Castle, which holds art classes for local residents and the wider Columbus area. This organization now holds ownership of the property and is run by its own board after it was given up by Ohio Wesleyan University.

The gallery runs solely on its volunteers and is one that gives back to the community by supporting OWU’s artists and providing studio space to artists for a reasonable price.

“We are looking for the help we can for spreading awareness and getting more volunteers,” said Mindy Hedger, a board member of the gallery.

Currently, the Gallery is getting limited audiences, but members of the board are hoping that people will gain awareness with time.

“What surprises me mostly is that so many people don’t know about the Arts Castle since we have been in town for so long. We try to get the word out, but maybe there’s more we can do,” Hedger said.

Although attendance is still small, there were some excited visitors.

Of these visitors were two high school students.

“I’ve always loved art exhibits and run into this along the road, the ones with the pretty skylines were my favorite,” said Abby O’Donald, a student at Olentagy High School.

Another Olentangy student was also drawn in by the art.

“I was just at the Arts Castle last weekend because we won an award there and we were in the area and saw that this gallery was linked with that, so we were interested and came in,” said Lauren Douglas, a senior at Olentangy High School.

Overall, Gallery 22 is a cultural element in town and its board members are hoping to see it grow into the Delaware community

Artist prepares for the opening of her first solo show

Photo courtesy of Facebook.

Leia Miza, Transcript Reporter
“She really exemplifies what the bachelor of fine arts program in the fine arts department should be – an intensive path for building knowledge and skills across many art disciplines,” said Frank Hobbs, a fine arts professor at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Catie Beach is a senior at OWU from Columbus, Ohio, pursuing a B.F.A degree. She currently lives in the Sexual and Gender Equality House (S.A.G.E) and maintains active membership in the Student Led Art Movement (SLAM) club. She is preparing for the opening of her first solo show, which will be up by the end of the month.

Although Beach’s concentrations consist of painting and printmaking, her potential has not been limited to just that. “The biggest surprise interest was going into sculpture. I’m very interested in the physicality of it. It stimulates you beyond your hands and arms; it’s your whole body.

Her upcoming show will display a range of mediums. “It’s going to have a lot of my sculpture work, printmaking, painting and maybe some drawing work as well as ceramics. It is still to be curated,” she said.

Beach and another student learned how to pour hot iron during a class in spring 2015. Photo courtesy of Facebook.

The art exhibit will cover a “retrospective” of the work she has done over the course of her time at OWU. She explained how many of the pieces are related to personal bounds such as family as well as other thematic explorations she has pursued.

“I’ve always been interested in nature and themes of death and how there is deception in the beauty of it. Often times, beautiful anomalies are products of destruction. A lot of my works are another focus on that,” she said.

Jordana McCallen, a fellow senior fine arts student at OWU, got the chills when she spoke about Beach. “I respect Catie so much as an artist. First of all, she has an innate talent that is really rare. I respect that she aware of that talent but is still humble. I just want more people to see her work.”

The opening will take place at the Werner Student Art Gallery of Edgar Hall on Jan. 29 from 6 to 8 p.m.

In close proximity

By: Gopika Nair, Copy Editor

At Ohio Wesleyan University, the chill of December doesn’t dampen art.

Seven studio arts professors from OWU’s fine arts department created works for the “In Close Proximity” exhibition, which will run from Dec. 1 through Jan. 31 at OWU’s Ross Art Museum.

An artist reception was held on Dec. 3, which was open to students and faculty members. The exhibition features a variety of artistic media such as clay, metal, photography, printmaking, sculpture, painting, drawing and computer design.

Participating faculty members include Kristina Bogdanov, Cynthia Cetlin, Frank Hobbs, James Krehbiel, Justin Kronewetter, Jeff Nilan and Jonathan Quick.

Nilan, associate professor of fine arts, said the Ross Art Museum displays faculty members’ recent works every other year to share their works and research with the community.

“It’s a fact that we are engaged with our works in our studio and I think that breeds more effective and engaged teaching,” he said. “When we’re actively involved in doing things that we teach, I think that creates a more direct connection to what we’re [teaching] our students.”

Most of Nilan’s photographs that are on display at the exhibition were taken within the last two years, he said. The photos are also part of an ongoing project concerned with soft Western Iowa.

“I usually try to touch upon that project in every faculty biennial,” he said. “This time around, it was minimal.”

Instead, his primary focus was on landscape and figuring out how to perceive it.

Each faculty member explored something different in their pieces. Cynthia Cetlin, professor of fine arts, experimented in creating forms, patterns, textures and color by working with wool and silk, she said in her artist’s statement.

“I am fascinated with the repetitive technique of covering an entire fabric with closely hand-stitched rows that are pulled board-tight and knotted, then dyed or steamed,” she said.

In her statement, she described the process of preparing work for public view as “risky” as well as “inescapable and thrilling.”

“I am an ardent learner, always drawn to new techniques and to materials that are new to me. A constant in my life has been the desire to create body adornment and to develop knowledge and technical mastery.”

Sophomore Ellen Sizer said during the reception that the pieces that grabbed her attention were “Silver River of NymphsNaissos” and “Gold River of NymphsNaissos” by Kristina Bogdanov, an associate professor of fine arts.

Bogdanov said the pieces were inspired by her birthplace and the legend and folklore of Balkans.

Other pieces by Bogdanov include “6 Hours Difference Skype Conversations” and “Surreal Letters to my Sister.”

“In general, all of my work is inspired by my family,” Bogdanov said. “They are the inspiration and motivation, the provide me the experience and understanding of life and life values. Through the exploration of shapes, color, drawing marks or simply different materials, I try to visually communicate the stories related to my family or relationships within a family.”

Jillian Maruskin, a librarian at OWU, said during the reception that it’s important for faculty to showcase their work.

“They’re the ones teaching our students, and students have to feel like they have good mentors,” Maruskin said. “[Students can also] see what it’s like to be living, working artists.”

During the academic year, the Ross Art Museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the museum to view “In Close Proximity” is free.