HOW TO GO
What: "The Cline Show," a college student exhibition
Where: Dayton Visual Arts Center, 118 N. Jefferson St.
When: Continues through March 23
Gallery talk: 6:15 p.m. Thursday, March 14
More info: (937) 224-3822 or www.daytonvisualarts.org
Budding artists in area universities and colleges are taking flight with their first group exhibit at a prestigious venue. “The Cline Show,” an annual art and design student exhibit/mentorship, is on view at the Dayton Visual Arts Center.
It features the works of 24 undergrads from three area schools: University of Dayton, Sinclair Community College and Wright State University.
Here are the student artist groups, with descriptions of a few stellar works that stand out in the show:
University of Dayton: Darlin Blanco-Lozano, Chloe McEldowney, Kelly Merecicky, Krista Walker, Courtney Washington and Paige Windgassen.
Merecicky, a Dayton resident, is showing three oil paintings; the one I favor is “Cosmic Butterfly.” The viewer will be reminded of freedom when they see this large-scale oil on luan door. This artist captures the feeling of flight in this work with her expansive and frenzied brushstrokes.
“I was researching for my Paintings III course my junior year, and the theme was galaxies, about how they exist in outer space and the way their existence is captured through the Hubble telescope,” said Merecicky, who plans to attend graduate school at the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago to study art therapy. “It doesn’t portray the actual color, but the wavelengths of color.”
Sinclair Community College: Richard Cable, Virgil Clark, Sean Cook, Grace Fogg, Lisa Foster, Sydney Joslin-Knapp, Luke Maynard, Erin Tangeman, Bryant White and Hannah Williams.
Maynard’s work, “Genesis of a Thought in Evolution,” also features butterflies. The black-and-white-speckled insects swirl around a massive lightbulb-shaped leather and string light fixture. Pages of a journal are hooked on the bottom.
“In my artwork I look to connect with people’s existing imagination and spark it to life,” said Maynard, who works as a designer/exhibit specialist at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Wright State University: Alicia Anderson, Chelsea Cramer, Sarah Keister, James Kidd, Kimberly Pavelka, Sarah Rodriguez, Megan Spencer and Thuy Truong.
Kidd, who lives in Yellow Springs, is showing three mixed-media sculptures: “Unnatural Socks,” “Pore” and “The Bond.”
“ ‘Unnatural Socks’ is about the strained relationship between humanity and nature,” said Kidd, who is a single parent of three children ages 5, 8 and 10. “After this semester, I’d like to continue working on my art, stay local and maybe consider a master’s degree in fine-art sculpture down the road.”
Influences
Since these budding artists are still undergrads, many of them are highly influenced by their instructors’ styles in art. For instance, local art enthusiasts familiar with Kathy Moore’s drawings will see a distinct connection to Sinclair student Lisa Foster’s oil still lifes. Foster is showing a large-scale oil on canvas, “In My Studio.”
“We’re seeing more signs of professors’ influence on the students’ work. “Krista Walker’s ink-jet print shows guidance by her instructor, Joel Whittaker, a photography professor at U.D. Her outdoor images are manipulated to change the way the real world looks.”
This annual exhibition is named in memory of the late DVAC office manager Barbara C. Cline, who helped hundreds of college student interns and emerging artists. The event is sponsored by the Barbara C. Cline Memorial Fund and the University of Dayton.
About the Author