New Exhibit Teaches APSU Students Nuts and Bolts About Hosting an Art Show
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. 鈥 For young artists, the grueling hours spent toiling away to create a new, original piece of artwork may actually be the easiest part of their chosen vocation. Getting someone to see and appreciate what they鈥檝e made is the truly difficult task. That鈥檚 why Austin Peay State University adjunct art professor Mike Mitchell has added a professional practice component to the introductory sculpture class he now teaches on campus.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. 鈥 For young artists, the grueling hours spent toiling away to create a new, original piece of artwork may actually be the easiest part of their chosen vocation. Getting someone to see and appreciate what they鈥檝e made is the truly difficult task. That鈥檚 why Austin Peay State University adjunct art professor Mike Mitchell has added a professional practice component to the introductory sculpture class he now teaches on campus.
The students in that class, for their final project, are required to develop a viable exhibition of their work. That exhibit, 鈥淭hird Dimension,鈥 will be a unique fusion of art and music, which runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on May 4, in the APSU Trahern Building鈥檚 Room 104. The show, which is free and open to the public, will feature works by students in Mitchell鈥檚 class and a performance by Nashville musician Evan P. Donohue.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing the logistics, the nuts and bolts, the boring stuff of the event,鈥 Mitchell said. 鈥淪ometimes, the nuts and bolts can be overwhelming, but it helps legitimize your events.鈥
The students spent the semester brainstorming on what they could do to draw in people to their exhibit. Mitchell suggested they pool their resources with another artist as a means of bringing people to the show and cross promoting each other. That鈥檚 how they ended up inviting Donohue to perform.
鈥淲e talked about how to use music to push your event and how your event can be used to push another artist,鈥 Mitchell said. 鈥淏y bringing Donohue up here, we鈥檙e broadening his audience.鈥
The students also wanted to make the event easy for people outside of the APSU campus to attend, so they sent invitations with parking passes for the lots around the Trahern building.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great,鈥 Chiann Thomas, a freshman, said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not only learning, we鈥檙e applying what we learn. We鈥檙e taking it to the next step from just being students to being professionals.鈥
Her classmate, junior Jennifer Kelley, was at first surprised by all the logistical components required of her in an introductory sculpture class. But after thinking about what she鈥檒l do when she graduates from APSU, she bought into the process.
鈥淭he knowledge of putting together your own show is something most people don鈥檛 learn until their much later years,鈥 she said.
The 鈥淭hird Dimension鈥 exhibit is a one-day only event. For more information on the show or the class, visit the class鈥 blog, www.cubeddesign.blogspot.com.