Text-Only Version
They are meant to inspire, to provoke, to incite a political reaction. The works of art on display in Carnegie Hall are the culmination of four years of study and studio work by these senior art majors.
Heather Jovanelli, Studio Art/English Major: "It's sort of our take on what we've learned for the past four years and kind of what our take on art is and our process of expression."
Sam Van Aken, Assistant Professor of Art: "They're engaged in art as a way of communicating. It's not art as these refined objects or these things that we hang on a wall and expect people to look at. All these students want to communicate and they're communicating on a very personal level."
Heather Jovanelli of Brewer has three pieces on display--using digital photography, printmaking and drawing to explore what art means to her.
Heather Jovanelli, Studio Art/English Major: "For me, one point of departure is letters and words and representations in text. From there, it sparks something else. I start to listen to how language sounds, listen to how people use words in art and everyday life, like news journals. We're so surrounded by language. At one point, it did start out as a drawing or a painting."
When she’s not in class or in the studio, Jovanelli can be found here- in the fieldhouse working out as a middle distance runner on the UMaine track team. At first, her pursuit of art and athletics seemed like polar opposites. Heather eventually discovered they both offered similar rewards.
Heather Jovanelli, Studio Art/English Major: "Even in art, sometimes there's this feeling that you shouldn't do it because it's not the most lucrative thing. But it's very rewarding in other senses. The same thing with running. You'll have lactic acid that builds up in your legs that makes you want to stop but then, after it's all over, you forget about the pain and you realize how euphoric it is."
Collectively, the "In the Road "exhibit shows that these art students have something they want to say. They’ve spent four years acquiring the tools to express themselves through their art.
Sam Van Aken, Assistant Professor of Art: "The exhibition in and of itself with the variety of work says a lot about our art program. It also says a lot about the ability of the students and the level which they're working at when they graduate from here. I go to other colleges and universities and see quite a bit of work, and our students are right up there."
