GSU Artsfest

2009 Artsfest

October 14, 2009
Come celebrate the arts with us at GSU. All events are free and open to the public.

Events planned for this year include:

Open studio workshops in ceramics, digital imaging, enhancing creativity, film-making, mosaic-making, painting, photography, poetry, and printmaking
Portfolio reviews
Collaborative art projects
Round table discussions
Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park discussions and mini-tours
Visiting artist exhibitions and lectures
Student and community art fair

A schedule of events with descriptions of the day's activities will be available soon. Should you need more information, please contact Sheree Sanderson at 708-235-3956 or s-sanderson@govst.edu.

Schedule of Events

Time	Workshop	Location
11:30-5:00	Cooperative Mural	Hall of Governors
11:30-5:00	Art Sale	Cafe Annex
11:30-5:00	Portfolio Reviews	E-Lounge
12:00-1:00	Enhancing Creativity	Cafe Annex
12:00-4:00	T-Shirt Printing	E-1527
12:30-4:00	Mosaic Making	E-1525
1:00-4:00	Ceramics Workshop	E-1526
1:00-5:00	Combined Media	E-1528
1:15-2:00	Figurative Tradition	Cafe Annex
1:30-5:00	Photography Workshop	E-1522
1:30-5:00	Open Digital Studio	E-2574
2:00-3:00	Sculpture Park Walk and Talk	Hall of Governors
4:15-5:00	Round Table	Cafe Annex
5:00-6:00	Distinguished Lecture	Engbretson
6:00-9:00	Reception and Exhibition	Art Gallery

Portfolio Reviews

Free portfolio reviews with GSU faculty in the E Lounge. No appointments are necessary. Faculty specializations are shown below, however, all faculty can review works in any media.

Time	Faculty Member	Area
11:30	Heather Page	Printmaking, Design
12:00	Michael Hart	Sculpture, Glass
12:30	Beth Parin	Photography, Digital Imaging, IFDI
1:00	Beth Parin	Photography, Digital Imaging, IFDI
1:30	Jeff Stevenson	Art History, Mixed-Media
2:00	Jeff Stevenson	Art History, Mixed-Media
2:30	Bastien Defriches-Doria	Photography, Digital Imaging, IFDI
3:00	Javier Chavira	Painting, Drawing
3:30	Javier Chavira	Painting, Drawing
4:00	Carrie Ohm	Ceramics, Sculpture
4:30	Carrie Ohm	Ceramics, Sculpture

Learn how to print your own t-shirt! Heather Page, Jane Rhoades Hudak and GSU printmaking students will be demonstrating silk-screen printing techniques with non-toxic, kid-safe materials. Participants will be provided with the materials needed to print their own graphic t-shirts.

Heather Page is a multi-media artist and collaborative printmaker who has exhibited internationally and printed professionally in the United States and Canada. Her work examines ways in which we interact with and manipulate our environments. Ms. Page studied at the University of Michigan--Ann Arbor, the Tamarind Institute of Lithography, and the University of Wisconsin--Madison. Examples of her work can be seen online at heatherpage.com.

A native of Chillicothe, Ohio, Dr. Jane Rhoades Hudak received her Ph.D. in Art Education from The Ohio State University in 1987. A portion of her undergraduate training was undertaken at the University of London, and in 1976 she completed a B.F.A. in Art Therapy from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Her areas of specialization include: Comparative International Art Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Museum Art Education, Art Therapy, and Higher Education Leadership.

E-1527: 12:00 - 4:00
h-page@govst.edu
j-hudak@govst.edu

Collage Combined Media

Participants in this workshop will be implementing and assembling various materials to create original works of art. We will be working with acrylic mediums, acrylic paint, paper, as well as traditional and non-traditional materials. Participants can employ improvisational and analytical approaches to create personal imagery. All materials will be provided.

Javier Chavira earned both a Bachelor of Arts degree (1996) and a Master in Arts degree (1999) from Governors State University with a Concentration in painting. In 2002 He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing from Northern Illinois University. At Northern Illinois University Javier studied “Technique Mixte”, an adaptation of a 16th century Flemish painting technique, under the direction of Professor Patrick Betaudier. Javier is currently the Assistant Professor of painting and drawing at Governors State University. He has exhibited widely and has won many awards for his work including a 2007 Finalist Award from the Illinois Arts Council. In 2005 Javier was nominated for the Individual Artist Award sponsored by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation of Chicago. Javier is a member of the public arts organization Friends of Community Public Art of Joliet and has created public work for approximately eleven years. His work is in numerous public and private collections including the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago. Recent paintings by Javier Chavira can be viewed at 33 Collective.

E-1528: 1:00 - 5:00
j-chavira@govst.edu

Enhancing Creativity

Get your creative juices flowing with fun creativity exercises - select from a variety of ideas to explore on your own, bring some friends and interact in a group, or meet some new friends. Open your mind, get in touch with your creative side, and take it with you to the other Artsfest events

Artist Jeff Stevenson is currently creating mixed media book work pieces that are made up of oil portraits on canvas, acrylic on altered books, collaged imagery with a wax technique, and images painted over the wax with oil paint. These pieces explore cultural issues of sexuality, masculinity, race, gender, and humor among other issues. Although the social commentary is an important aspect of these works, there is also plenty of room for interpretation and reflection on the part of the viewer. Because the works are created using an intuitive approach, aspects evolve that might not have been planned. As a result, there is a freshness to them, often an epic scale, and bits of humor thrown in for good measure. Examples of this recent work, and more, can be seen at his website.

Cafe Annex: 12:00 - 1:00

jeff@jeffstevenson.com

Large Format Photography Workshop

This workshop provides visitors with the opportunity to experience and participate in large format portraiture in a photographic studio setting. Participants may choose to be either the sitter or the photographer's assistant. Portraits will be shot on 4x5, black-and-white, Type 55 Polaroid film, allowing visitors to leave with a small print or negative which may then be taken to the computer technology lab for scanning and digital correcting or manipulation.

Professor Bastien Desfriches Doria is a native of Paris, France, where he used to live and work before moving to America in 1999 to study Photography. His artistic and academic interests are broad and go well beyond the usual Visual Arts spectrum. In France, Bastien earned both a degree in Philosophy and in Information & Communication Sciences. Existentialism, structuralism, post-structuralism, semiotics and phenomenology (among other areas) constitute the core of his theoretical approach and understanding of photographic arts. Mainly focusing on conceptual portraiture, his work evokes philosophical wonder and reflects on mundane absurdity, while challenging the aesthetics and representation of the individual as a human figure. Most of his recent work is available to see on his website at www.bastienddoria.com.

E-1522: 1:30 - 5:00
b-desfrichesdoria@govst.edu

Open Digital Studio

Visitors to the CTI Lab will be given all the instruction needed to create a "self-portrait" using the industry standard image editing program for graphics professionals, Adobe Photoshop. This self-portrait may or may not look anything like the artist, but it should define the artist in some way. Using a digital photo, taken at ArtsFest, as a starting point, the artist can add layers of drawing, painting, and/or digital manipulation to develop a more complex self-portrait. What the artist adds, mixes and creates is totally dependent on the concept each artist develops. At the end of the workshop he or she will walk away with a finished piece of art and an understanding of the level of craftmanship offered by digital imaging software.

Beth Parin holds an MFA in Studio Photography & Digital Imaging from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, a BFA from Saint Mary's College, and theoretical studies from the University of Notre Dame. Parin's experimentation with still & animated digital work, sound art compositions, and progressive design have led her to publication and exhibition of her work internationally. As a professor, Parin focuses on the development of visual expression through conceptual, and cultural discussions as well as technical instruction. Together these skills foster the development of the artist by allowing each student to build a unique, influential voice and prepare for a successful career as a digital imagist.

E-2574: 1:30 - 5:00
beth.parin@gmail.com

Art History Round Table

This session will be devoted to art history interests of students and faculty. What are you working on? What would you like to work on? GSU students, guests and faculty will share images of potential analysis and discuss how they choose to (or would choose to) handle the material in order to best stimulate interest.

The interests of Dr. Arthur Bourgeois incline primarily toward non-western art, namely, African, Native American, Pre-Columbian, Oceanic and Asian contexts where art is viewed in a cultural matrix of ceremony, religion and mythic narrative. Dr. Bourgeois' fascination with non-western cultures is evidenced by his published writings. He also teaches Worlds of Art, an art history course embracing new media and teaching techniques designed for the internet.

Cafe Annex: 4:15 - 5:00

a-bourge@govst.edu

Two To See

Geoffrey Bates, director of the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, will offer two separate informal 30 to 45-minute media presentations.

The Figurative Tradition: A Brief Overview of Sculpture in Western Art in which he will discuss the history of the figure in Western Art History, from the caves of Bavaria through the galleries of SOHO.

Walk and Talk with Steinunn Thorarinsdottir Distinguished Lecturer Steinunn Thorarinsdottir will lead visitors out to the installation of her work, Horizons and discuss elements of siting, installation, and her views on contemporary sculpture.

Geoffrey Bates, director and curator of the sculpture park, an alumnus of Ohio University, served as the Associate Curator for Art at the Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery for nearly eleven years, during which time he curated several exhibits which highlighted the development of new media and expanded the audience for contemporary sculpture. He has also authored several articles on important, contemporary, abstract art.

Cafe Annex: 1:15 - 2:00
Sculpture Park: 2:00 - 3:00
sculpture@govst.edu

Wheel Throwing Workshop

Participants in this workshop will be afforded the first hand experience of throwing on the potters wheel. Student demonstrators will be creating ceramic bowls throughout the day as well as assisting visitors in doing the same. Those participants wishing to claim their finished work may return to the studio after a few weeks when their bowls have been fired.

Carrie Ohm's installations confront notions of spectacle and relative perfection while maintaining an active dialogue with color, space, absurdity and memory. Making use of an object's inherent ability to contain a narrative, Ohm's delightful and whimsical "props" chauffeur a seamless integration between object and narrative, to performative action. Ohm received a BFA in Painting and Ceramics from the University of Toledo and an MFA in Ceramics from School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

E-1526: 1:00 - 4:00

c-ohm@govst.edu

Mosaic Making

This ongoing workshop will provide passersby the opportunity to engage in the centuries old technique of mosaic making. Visitors will be cutting glass and tile, "nipping" shapes from glass, working with color, shape and direction and learning to assemble a mural from scratch. The end result will then be placed in the sculpture room window as an entrance piece to the studios.

Mike Hart received a BFA from Illinois State University in glass and sculpture and a MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in glass and dimensional studies. Originally(and currently) from Momence, Illinois, he has traveled the country making work, exhibiting, performing, assisting and teaching. Currently he is involved in developing the stained glass/glass casting curriculum at GSU as well as teaching beginning sculpture, figure sculpture and various media specific and mixed media sculpture courses. Mike also owns and operates OMG It's Paper, in which he produces several lines of vessels and home decor from cast recycled paper.

E-1525: 12:30 - 4:00
mmykol72@yahoo.com

Cooperative Mural

All day long visitors, students and faculty are encouraged to take part in one of the most popular parts of last year's Artsfest, a large-scale, cooperative mural. 2007's mural featured centrally in the closing exhibition and found a home in GSU's atrium for many months afterward. Beyond the fun and excitement offered from working together on such a huge project, the mural, placed centrally in the Hall of Honors, acts a hub of activity where visitors to Artsfest can meet art faculty and students and find information on the workshops offered.

Hall of Governors: 11:30 - 5:00

Steinunn Thorarinsdottir - Distinguished Lecture

Icelandic artist, Steinunn Thorarinsdottir, has been named the Distinguished Lecturer for the Governors State University College of Arts and Sciences for the autumn, 2009 term and will be present during Artsfest to provide commentary on her work. Horizons, a temporary installation of Thorarinsdottir's sculpture, will be featured prominently within the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park though September of 2010. “Thorarinsdottir’s work touches on themes of loneliness and isolation with threads of hope implied by glass inserts that provide an aura of spirituality,” said Geoffrey Bates, Director and Curator of the park.

Thorarinsdottir has exhibited widely in Europe and the U.K. and has been commissioned by both the Icelandic and English governments for major sculptural installations. Horizons has been seen in New York and Texas and will continue to travel after its stay in University Park. The work is featured in the documentary, Horizons, by independent filmmaker Frank Cantor, which won the CINE Special Jury Award in Washington as the best documentary of 2008.

Engbretson Hall: 5:00 - 6:00

Gabriel Villa - Exhibition

In conjunction with GSU's annual Artsfest, the Visual Arts Gallery will host an exhibition of the work of Chicago artist, Gabriel Villa. The exhibit, Spirituality and Surveillance, will remain open to the public from September 30 through October 23 with an artist's reception with the artist present on Wednesday, October 14th.

Gabriel Villa received his BFA from the Corpus Christi State University in 1992 and his MFA from the University of Delaware three years later. Since 2005, he has served as an educator at Chicago's National Museum of Mexican Art as well as co-curating exhibitions at that institution's Kraft Foods Gallery.

Visual Art Gallery: 11:30-9:00
Meet Gabriel Villa: 6:00-9:00

Art Sale

GSU's student-run Art Forum Club will not only be welcoming visitors and participating in the day’s events, but will also be showcasing artwork with a GSU student and community art sale. Whether you are looking for photography, painting, prints, jewelry, sculpture, or ceramics, you are sure to find something special at this one of a kind event.

In addition, a set of note cards featuring ten outstanding works of art by current students and GSU alumni will be available for purchase throughout the day. 100% of the proceeds from this sale will go toward financing the club’s efforts in promoting the art of GSU students, and enriching the learning experience by funding guest lectures, on-campus events, and trips related to the arts, not to mention the annual GSU student art exhibition. Printing of this unique set of cards is limited, so get yours before they’re all gone during Artsfest 2009.

Cafe Annex: 11:00 - 5:00

artsgrad@govst.edu