The stark contrast between lions and lambs is an easy metaphor, found in the Bible, on Twilight fan T-shirts and in the Library Basement Art Gallery.  The Lion and Lamb art exhibit co-sponsored by the Art Club and the Art Department will be on display until February 1st.

This particular art exhibit is three years running, with each year sporting a different theme. The first theme was “Tolerance and the Other” and last year’s was “North and South.”  The exhibit is the brainchild of Randy Horst, Art Club faculty sponsor, and past Art Club president Jordan Kauffman. It was thought up as an activity for the Art Club as well as an opportunity for students to have their artwork displayed on campus.

One of three current Art Club Presidents, Ida Short, a second-year, explained how the club’s goal is to get art students as well as people who are not art majors or minors involved in art. Short herself has submitted a piece to the show, a black and white print of a plover bird perched on the snout of a crocodile. Plover birds clean crocodiles teeth and the crocodiles never  harm the birds. “It shows the beauty of the symbiotic relationship,” said Short of her work.

Horst expects the exhibit to house anywhere from 30 to 60 pieces. The pieces will be from all over the art spectrum, not just paintings and photographs. Potential mediums are jewelry, photography, ceramics and printmaking.

According to Horst, the designated theme is one that can be interpreted in many different ways, encouraging students to bring into it personal experience and creativity. “In this case, peace and peacemaking, the animal kingdom, human interactions/relationships to animals, and diametrical opposites” said Horst. “We encourage students to develop individual and unique responses to the theme, not merely illustrate it with conventional symbols.” The hope is that students will be inspired to work towards the challenge of making the theme their own while mirroring Goshen College ideals.

The exhibit will provide an outlet for artists as well as an interactive experience for viewers. “For the artists, I hope they find the joy and fulfillment that comes from making something that is the byproduct of sincere exploration of one’s individual interests, feelings, and ideas, and from the experimentation with materials, to find the best way to communicate those with others,” said Horst. “I hope the viewers have their own associations with the exhibit theme challenged, altered, enhanced and refined through interaction with the artwork.”