Art students display work

A woman makes her way around a room, observing artwork that's mounted on walls, illuminated by little spotlights. She pauses at a large, framed black and white photograph and peers over her glasses to inspect it more closely. \n"That's a compelling little girl," she murmurs to herself.\nThe child she's referring to has short brown hair that frames her face, a cowlick of baby hairs hanging down the middle of her forehead, a smudge of dirt on the right corner of her mouth and is thrusting out her lower lip in a slight pout.\nThe picture was taken by graduate student Jane Reeves, just one of the students who had her artwork on display in the Department of Education's Art Envy 2 Exhibition in the Center for Research on Learning and Technology Friday, March 29.\nYouthful, expressive faces are going to be a lifestyle for these students, because they all aspire to be art teachers.\nAssistant Professor of Education Lara Lackey said the exhibit was entirely the student's doing.\n"The education school is primarily about curriculum and learning, and students wanted to show that they're also artists." Lackey said. "They put this whole thing together completely on their own." \nAn assortment of artwork lined the room -- metal work, lithographs, photographs, sketches and paintings. The ones drawing the most attention were located in the front entrance.\nThese included a life-size figure of a person entirely comprised of Coke product remains, and a chair decorated with quotes and images pulled from the Web site of a Christian college that graduate student Nan Fox-Coons attended in the past. \nFox-Coons said she could never explain in words how much distaste she had for the hypocrisy at her college, so she made the attempt through art. She knows the value of expressing feelings through art in ways words can't and wants to share that creative outlet with others.\n"I'm more interested in exploring what art says; the story-telling aspect," Fox-Coons said. "It's a good way for kids to express themselves. Sometimes you can't explain things -- you can only express it visually."\nLearning how to teach art requires training at a local school, which junior Allyson Lineberry said she is thrilled to do. She doesn't want to just be an artist, because she loves kids and finds it much more rewarding help them make art.\nSome students brought a few family members, friends and significant others to see their work -- Lineberry's entourage had twelve people.\nWhile her mom and aunt were giggling that she sketched nude people for a studio class, Lineberry explained that not everyone is good at art, but everyone can do it and everyone can improve with practice.\n"I have a passion for teaching," Lineberry said. "Teachers are what influenced my talent, and I'd look to do the same for children"