Last spring, as a final project for John Blosser’s Painting 302 class, Anna Ruth created “Komiza,” an original oil painting.  Ruth, a Junior English major, recently decided to declare an Art minor largely because of her interest in painting. “Art, but especially painting, is really therapeutic for me,” Ruth said. She painted a number of pieces in the course of the semester, but “Komiza” especially stood out as one of her favorites. Ruth painted “Komiza” on a 2×5 foot slab of Masonite, a type of synthetic hardwood. The painting originated as a photo she took in high school while traveling...

By Mary Roth • September 23, 2010 • Arts

Dick Lehman, a local potter, tells stories through the Japanese ceramics pieces that he has collected in his travels and that were on exhibit in the Hershberger Art Gallery in the music center up until last Sunday.  That afternoon, Lehman told a few of these stories to an audience gathered at the reception for the exhibit’s closing. Articles that Lehman wrote for Ceramics Monthly lined the walls of the gallery, and displays of glazed sake cups and elegant teapots with wicker handles were arranged throughout the room. In his exhibit, Lehman sought to convey the link between physical artifacts and...

By Sarah Rich • September 15, 2010 • Arts

If you have spent any time in the Recreation-Fitness Center this year, you have probably noticed a new mural hanging in the lobby. Liz  Gunden, a senior art major, took on the task of creating this mural in conjunction with the Maple Scholars program in May. “The assignment was pretty open-ended,” Gunden said. “I was asked to create a mural that communicated interconnectedness and a sense of diversity.” Gunden settled on modeling the mural from a photograph she took during her SST service assignment in Nicaragua.  It depicts a number of smiling young children, both in a close-up shot of...

By Mary Roth • September 15, 2010 • Arts

Over the weekend, a semester’s worth of work was fired up with wood by a group of advanced art students. It is a regular tradition for ceramics students since the wood-fired kiln was built in 1995. At the beginning of the semester, a group of ceramics students came together to decide whether to gear up for the firing. It is a gamble–success often depends on factors out of the students’ control. Past years the wood they got was too wet, resulting in a lower firing temperature, and undesired results. This year, they were lucky to get a donation of cottonwood—perfect...

By Andrea Kraybill • April 8, 2010 • Arts

Beth Glick, an art major, is only two weeks away from the opening of her senior show. With varied interests in theater, graphic design and drawing, Glick decided to refine her printmaking skills this semester. Here we offer a tour of creating a monotype. In Printmaking class, students work mainly with black, oil-based inks. Beth, however, wanted to experiment with color. “These inks are water-based, which means they are healthier and easier to clean up,” said Glick. Starting with a clean Plexiglass plate, Glick chooses her first background color and inks it on with a brayer. Next, she dampens her...

By Andrea Kraybill • April 1, 2010 • Arts

Four senior art students are in crunch-mode this week, pulling all-nighters putting the finishing touches on their artwork and figuring out how to set up for their exhibition. The first senior show exhibit opens this Sunday in the Hersberger Gallery at the Music Center with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Mark Hershberger, Lorena Morales, David Rumsey, Isaac Shue and Noah Yoder will display a semester’s worth of work, evidence of their progression as artists while at Goshen College. While only worth one credit-hour, all of the artists have put in countless hours of planning, brainstorming, and active creating, with...

By Andrea Kraybill • March 24, 2010 • Arts

On Tuesday, John Sevigny, a photojournalist and human rights activist presented his project called “Ladies’ Bar.” In the photos, Sevigny explored the meanings of the words “woman” and “beauty.” Sevigny spent 10 months bar-hopping in Guadalajara, Mexico. He wasn’t there for the tequila or the prostitutes. He was there to photograph the subculture of female prostitutes in Mexico as a “metaphor for women around the world.” Many times, the women Sevigny photographed were paid more to sell their bodies than they would make at the only other option- a factory job. Most of these women had been physically and sexually...

By Kelsey Shue • March 18, 2010 • News

“I did this painting at the end of last semester for Painting class. It was our final painting, and because it was a free choice–and close to Christmas break–the only thing I could think about was going home [to Haiti]. I envisioned the beach and the incredible sunsets. When I started to work on it, it was really difficult for me because I felt like I could never get the colors and it felt like the perspective wasn’t working. In an effort to get it close to what I wanted to create, I think it is one of the most...

By Rayna Pierre • March 17, 2010 • Arts

Goshen College women celebrated the female body on Tuesday night with creative art projects. As a part of Healthy Bodies Week, Goshen Student Women’s Association (GSWA) held a Women and Art night in East Hall. Various art projects were available such as collaging, drawing and body casting, and Java Junction provided drinks. Over thirty women participated in the body casting. Students each paid $4 for a small roll or $9 for a large roll. The women partnered up and took turns dipping strips of plaster in water and placing it on each other, making molds of their upper body. “It’s...

By Kelsey Shue • March 17, 2010 • Arts

“This painting of the Kulp basement was the fulfillment of an assignment of ‘painting on location in an interesting space.’ I looked for a place not generally thought of as aesthetically pleasing–an old wooden staircase and stark white piping–then worked to bring out the hidden colors. It was a challenge to change the mood from its actual harsh lighting and shadows to something more inviting, and I’m afraid I creeped out quite a few people by lurking in that back corner… but my hope is that I at least drew a little attention to a usually unnoticed area of campus.”...

By Rachel Friesen • March 11, 2010 • Arts

This sculpture is a hawk made out of pieces of welded steel. In my work I often look for inspiration from the mechanics of the real world. I look for the way things work–the underlying mechanics of an organism or object. In most of my work, and this piece in particular, I look for pieces of steel in the shape of body parts. For this hawk shape, I was looking for long, thin pieces of steel to create the layered effect of the wings and tail. I also needed to find pieces to create the open shape of the body...

By Russell Horst • March 2, 2010 • Arts

Terry Evans, Chicago, Ill., visited Goshen College earlier this week, presenting in several classes, public lectures and in Monday’s convocation as the Eric Yake Kenagy memorial art lecturer. Evans is a photo-documentarian, specializing in aerial photography, who worked on large projects on the U.S.’s remaining prairies and Greenland’s glaciers. Jordan Kauffman, a junior art major, enjoyed Evan’s presentation. “Evans does not preach to you about being environmentally friendly,” he said, “instead, allowing her work do that for her by just documenting the changes and patterns that are evident in our world.” To view and learn more about Evans’ work,  visit...

By Marlys Weaver • February 12, 2010 • Arts

“I took this picture at the 2007 Mennonite Youth Convention in San Jose, California.  I have been interested in photography since I got my hands on a Fisher Price camera as a kid.  I’ve always been creative, dabbling in lots of different visual art forms, but have come to find that my passion and skills lie in graphic design and photography.  The biggest thing that I love about photography is the ability to capture moments in time and having them last.  For example, the image of the fireworks acts as a visual reminder of their beauty.  My interest in graphic...

By Jordan Kauffman • February 9, 2010 • Arts

Eleven senior art majors are creating various types of work for their upcoming March 28th and April 11th Senior Art Shows. The one-credit graduation requirement asks students to pick a theme and then explore the topic through the artist’s choice of medium. Students for these shows are working with charcoal, acrylic paint, ceramics, printmaking, graphic design and encaustic (wax).  All of the artwork needs to be produced during the final semester of college, so previously created work cannot be used. Senior art major, Annali Smucker states: “To have a theme and to produce a show around it is challenging on...

By Kristen Ulery • February 2, 2010 • Arts

A new installation art and printmaking exhibition opens this Sunday, Jan. 17, with a reception following from 2-3:30 p.m. Located in the Music Center’s Hershberger Art Gallery, Goshen College alumni Ben Reed ’04 and Sue Hershberger Yoder ’91 will each present their art. Defying the stereotypical divide between art and sports, Ben Reed bridges the gap in an exciting new work titled “Strategy through Creativity.” With a master’s degree in fine arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Reed’s installation creates a smart connection between soccer and art. Large male mannequins stand dressed in suits, peering over large...

By Andrea Kraybill • January 20, 2010 • Arts