Some opt to photograph calming winter landscapes. Some paint the human form on canvas. Some construct sophisticated sculptures with hidden surprises.
The diversity of these artistic perspectives became available to the public this Thursday with the start of the Grunwald Gallery’s BFA Group Show.
Erik Probst, social media coordinator for the gallery, said he helped install the show during the last three days. The goal of this show, like all Grunwald exhibits, is displaying the talent of students throughout their artistic development.
“The priority for Grunwald is to serve the students, allowing them to have a chance to showcase their work,” Probst said. “This is an opportunity for them to showcase their work at an early form or early stage of their career, especially in specific schooling.”
The gallery, Probst said, has been working to give students the spotlight with every show since its beginnings.
“Grunwald used to be called SoFA Gallery and that was their goal, to focus on the students since it’s an institutional environment,” Probst said.
The gallery includes a myriad of pieces across the artistic spectrum, but Probst said one format in particular stands out to him when he looks through the pieces.
“I’m always impressed with the jewelry and metalsmithing department,” Probst said. “The work is always very professional, and being professional in anything you do is important.”
Some pieces stuck to traditional formats while others introduced patrons to novel forms of expression.
One piece, an unassuming wooden house structure, required viewers to sit on the ground and place their heads into the attic, where the artist constructed an entire room filled with miniature furniture.
This show runs for the next week, Probst said, but a much larger showcase is on the horizon for the gallery.
“After that we are having our thesis shows for BFA and MFA students,” Probst said. “Those are different because students get to present a full body of cohesive work that is much larger than a selective format.”
Sophomore Sondra Valaie said she was drawn to this show mainly out of curiosity. The gallery doors were open, and Valaie was interested in what types of work were on display.
Valaie said the ambiguity of certain pieces kept her interested throughout her first minutes exploring the gallery space.
“I just can’t really figure out what exactly they’re trying to say, but also a lot of them are very unique in a way,” Valaie said as she gestured to the display. “One of the pieces over there is like obsession, but you can see pieces of paper glued to it, which adds a sense of realism, especially with the realistic photos against the painting.”
Valaie said she has not yet explored too much of the varying artistic formats of the pieces on display as she mainly works in visual illustrations.
One piece, however, spoke to Valaie because of its new take on a classic style.
“There’s that printmaking series over there that looks just like illustrations almost,” Valaie said. “I’ve done printmaking before, and I’ve never really seen anything like that, so it’s really interesting.”
Inspiration, Valaie said, is all around the gallery during a show like this.
“Seeing different things that you wouldn’t really expect or think about doing kind of makes you want to do the same,” Valaie said.
