Thanks to the annual First Year Master of Fine Arts Student Exhibition, graduate students in the School of Visual Arts can apply their skills to real life without even leaving campus.
The show, which kicks off today at the Zoller Gallery, was put together by nine first-year graduate students in the School of Visual Arts, said Heather Hughes, coordinator for the Zoller Gallery.
One of these students, Jackie Tufford (graduate-art), said the exhibition will serve as a learning experience for her future as an artist.
"I'm looking forward to people's reactions," Tufford said. "I'm looking for some feedback."
Receiving feedback is a main goal of the exhibition, said Charles Garoian, director of the School of Visual Arts. The exhibition will host a critique session by the graduate faculty on Monday, he said.
"The faculty will have a conversation with the student, giving feedback about how compelling the image is, the composition, the craftsmanship, and how it responds to contemporary life," he said. "It's early enough in the two-year MFA program that the students can get feedback that will help them as they progress in the program."
The learning experience gained from the exhibition does not end there. In addition to responding to constructive criticism from the faculty, the graduate students will also learn protocol of showing their work in a gallery, Garoian said.
"One aspect of becoming an artist is to participate in a public space," he said. "You have to meet the deadlines and expectations of the gallery. They must learn to present the project so it's clearly communicated. They want to evoke a certain response from the viewer."
As for the show's content, traditional paintings and sculptures will be shown, but they will be joined with different, more creative styles and new media sources such as video, said John Bowman, associate professor of art in the School of Visual Arts.
Tufford also noted the diversity of the exhibition.
"The artists pick what they would like to do including printmaking, photography, painting, ceramics and more," she said. "It's not just one specific thing. It's a little bit of everything."
Tufford's part of the exhibition is an installation piece. As she described, an installation piece takes a corner, including the wall, ceiling and floor, and makes the entire space into a piece of art.
"It's kind of like how an interior decorator would decorate a living room," she said. "I'm doing that to a smaller area."
Tufford's piece also includes a video aspect that explains the project.
Brian Franklin (graduate-art) showed his Penn State pride with one entry, which is a series of prints that trace the Penn State football season.
"Each piece represents one game," he said.
Bowman works closely with these graduate students in his graduate seminar and said he understands the importance of the show.
"Students can show an official contact their work in relation to other artists' work," he said. "It's a great thing that we do."
