News Releases

Student Show Features Creative Artwork

Oil paintings, large digital graphic prints, pen, clay and glossy black and white prints make up the variety of student artwork that is on display in the Flora Kirsch Beck Gallery at Alma College.

The Annual Juried Student Art Show continues through Oct. 1. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free and open to the public.

A reception for the contributing artists will take place from 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1 in the gallery.



"Fourth of July" by Sarah Linsley

The student show is special because it is “the show that has the most varied mediums,” says Gallery Director Sandy Lopez-Isnardi. “What is in the gallery now is some of the best explorations of what is taught in class.”

Every spring the Alma College art faculty review submitted student works that were created throughout the year for selection in the student show. The selection process is based on what Lopez-Isnardi says are the best resolutions to problems presented in class.

One of these works, titled “The Fourth of July” by Leslie junior Sarah Linsley, is an oil painting on two joined canvases featuring vibrant kites of a rainbow-streamed windsock and a coy fish hanging from a ceiling. Linsley says it is personal because it reminds her of summer camp with family and is the largest painting she has done so far.

“It was difficult to trust my arm to make broad strokes,” she says. “I naturally make smaller ones.”

Another piece is a group project titled “Art for All.” The task was to create a Website, letterhead, business card and a product for a non-profit company that distributes art supplies that inspire children across the globe. The logo is a magenta ball with yellow paint splattered and dripping. The product is a package that includes a soft toy stuffed with art supplies.

“Working on this project intensified my interest in the area of graphic design and helped focus my interest in graphic illustration,” says Lake Linden junior Amanda Cruickshank, one of the artists who worked on the mixed media piece. “I had a lot of fun.” 

-sm-


 

 

Alma College is among the top 40 baccalaureate institutions in the country for the percentage of students who choose to study abroad, according to a report published by the Institute for International Education. Among Alma’s graduates in the 2009–10 academic year, 61.4 percent participated in study abroad, which ranked 37th in the nation.

 

Faculty Profile

Mr. Murray Borrello

Mr. Murray Borrello
Departments: Environmental Studies

Murray Borrello, instructor of geology and director of the Environmental Studies Program, utilizes his interest and expertise to become involved in the community and environment surrounding him.

He has provided technical expertise to the local community in developing research and community-based policy regarding the Velsicol superfund sites in St. Louis and the Total/UDS refinery site in Alma. Along with fellow professors and community members, Borrello helped form the Pine River Superfund Citizens Task Force, the largest and most active Community Advisory Group (CAG) in the country.