For the second year, the SU Libraries and the School of Art in the College of Visual and Performing Arts are collaborating to showcase the works of innovative art students in a pop-up art show. The students are from the first-year foundations course, taught by School of Art faculty Tom Hall and Dusty Herbig. Their show “Reference Point” will feature thematic installations throughout Bird Library, opening March 12 and on view through April 12 during all hours that the library is open.
Student Sarah Allam works on her installation for Bird Library’s pop-up art show.
An artist’s reception on Monday, March 26, from 1-3 p.m. will give visitors a chance to meet the 27 students who are creating works for the show. The reception will be in the Blackstone LaunchPad, the glass cube on the main level of Bird Library, and is open to the community.
LaunchPad staff worked with Learning Commons librarians to help students create proposals and vision statements, pitch them to their peers and library staff, receive feedback and revise their final proposals. This process was the same as a professional public art call, and intended to teach students the skills required to be creative entrepreneurs. Artist statements will be on view with the works, explaining the thematic and narrative elements of each piece.
“As the busiest academic building on campus, with more than one million visitors a year, Bird Library will provide students with great visibility for their first public art show,” says David Seaman, dean of libraries and University librarian, “and we are keen to find additional ways to use library spaces to showcase the creative and academic achievements of the Syracuse University community.”
“The idea of the Reference Point puts the library at the heart of the creative process,” says Hall. “The library is often the first point of contact for researching a thought, and its web of references the creative divergent energy of discovery and discourse.” Hall is a public artist who works in studio arts, with a particular focus on sculpture. His work has been shown internationally, including Villa Favard, Florence; Stone Quarry Art Park, New York; Les Tombées de la Nuit, Rennes International Arts Festival, France; and Key Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight.
Herbig teaches lithography, intaglio, serigraphy and relief, and also serves as the director and master printer of Lake Effect Editions, the press of the printmaking intensive. Herbig exhibits nationally, participating in juried exhibitions in major cities across the country; and internationally, including exhibitions in Japan, Canada, China, Argentina, Spain, Pakistan, Taiwan, Brazil, Germany, South Korea and Poland. His work is in the permanent collections of many institutions.
Check Facebook for photos of the show: @LaunchPadSYR.
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