Although the art galleries in the Moreau Art Center and the Student Center at Saint Mary's usually feature art by professional, contemporary artists or students throughout the course of the academic year, faculty members get the chance to show their talent once every four years.
The faculty art exhibit will be exhibited in the Sister Rosaire and Little Theatre Galleries until Feb. 27.
This exhibition features work from six members of the art department: Julie Tourtillotte, Bill Sandusky, Kelly Harrington, Sandra Ginter, Sheilah Wilson, and Marcia Rickard.
Rickard is not a professional artist. Her art is based on the experience she gained while on a trip to Sri Lanka with other faculty members during a ceasefire in 2004.
"We visited women's groups, orphanages, schools, etc. in both rebel and government territory," Rickard said. "There is heavy in fighting in Sri Lanka now and news reports are sketchy, but clearly there are many killed and many refugees - probably some women that we met. My piece in the show is for them."
Unlike Rickard, Harrington has been an artist for as long as she can remember. Her series of acrylic paintings is titled "Motherhood: A Reality Check." Her paintings, a result of a Saint Mary's Faculty Research Grant Harrington received in 2007, represent the fears and vulnerabilities that mothers experience.
"My main message, I suppose, is that it is okay for mothers to feel and express emotions other than contentedness and joy in raising children," Harrington said. "It is my hope that my work expresses experiences that are universal even if not spoken of, and therefore, acceptable in the everyday physical and emotional life of a mom."
Ginter is another member of the faculty whose art is featured in the exhibition.
"My work deals with the ideas of youth, growth and the bonds that surface from both," Ginter said. Symbolic color and form suggests play, but also seriousness, hinting at innocence, but also a sterile oddity."
This is not the first time Julie Tourtillotte, who teaches fibers, drawing, video and silkscreen, has had her art exhibited on campus. This year, Tourtillotte is exhibiting prints that combine silkscreen with digital inkjets that were inspired by Wallace Stevens' poem, "13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird."
Sandusky and Wilson are the other two members of the faculty exhibited in the gallery. Sandusky's art is in two disciplines, both painting and printmaking. Wilson's part of the exhibit displays her photography.
Another faculty art exhibition is opening tomorrow in Hammes Gallery titled "My Tomorrowland is an Empty Space," that features artwork created by Krista Hoefle. There are three disciplines displayed in this exhibit: Sculpture-Installation, Video, and Electronic Media.
"During my research leave, I investigated electronic methods of making sound, light, video, and programmatically-based objects," Hoefle said, "so a predominate number of pieces in my exhibition feature some technological component.
The two galleries are free and open to the public until February 27.
