Summer Salon honors artwork

Local artists will unveil their original, brand-new artwork for exhibition early next month at the IU Memorial Union.\nNamed Summer Salon 2002, the event simulates salons, casual gatherings European artists regularly held between the 17th and 19th Centuries to exhibit, appreciate and discuss their work. Half a dozen IU undergraduates and one local composer will present their poems, metalwork and music compositions. The salon is scheduled to run from 8 to 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 1 at University Club in the Memorial Union. The IU Honors College, the sponsor of the event, will charge no admission fees.\nThe salon aims to create a creative and stress-free atmosphere, where people can discuss art comfortably, said senior music student Kate Bowen. Bowen suggested, planned and designed the salon as she volunteered for the committee of the IU Honors College Extracurricular Programs.\n"As a musician, as a performer, I think we sometimes intellectualize arts too much," Bowen said, who has spent four years studying piano performance. Art is to be simply enjoyed, and that's the theme running through the salon, she said.\nThe event seeks to "bring a variety of different characters together," Bowen said. "If you come, you can meet people whom you might not ordinarily meet," she said.\nSenior Paul Musgrave, who plans to read his poems at the salon, said of his work, "My subjects are kind of odd for most poets."\nHis unorthodox, free-verse poems explore political, economic and philosophical forces that subtly but greatly affect human relationships, Musgrave said.\n"I want to prompt people to think a little more about their political beliefs, their economic beliefs, and how they look at poetry," Musgrave said.\nWith the salon getting closer, Musgrave feels nervous about reading before a crowd, as he normally writes and reads poems alone at night. And yet, he finds the experience liberating.\n"It was electrifying to see people actually listening to my poetry," Musgrave said as he recalled a poetry-reading event he joined in during spring.\nIan Sienicki, a senior majoring in Fine Arts, specializing in metals and jewelry, will present three pieces of metalwork: "a silver woman's bracelet," "a small silver reliquary," and "a copper hollow vessel."\nHis work requires neither trained eyes nor esoteric, artistic sense to understand, Sienicki said.\n"Art is for everyone," Sienicki said. "I don't believe in creating work for one select group of people."\nOverall, both Musgrave and Sienicki touted the idea of the salon. "Frankly, I wish this wasn't the first one," Musgrave said.\nBowen first suggested the salon last March to the Honors College's Extracurricular Programs, after she became a committee member of the program.\n"The general reaction to Kate's (Bowen's) proposal was quite positive," said Jane Plaza, assistant for the extracurricular programs. The idea of involving student artists, musicians and poets impressed the committee, she said.\nBowen isn't just a planner. At the beginning of the salon, she will play the piano to a Franz Schubert song, which will be sung by another IU music student. Also, for attendants unfamiliar with the idea of salons, Bowen will speak briefly about its history.\nBowen said she can't estimate how many people may attend the salon, but "I hope they'll have an enjoyable evening," she said.\nFor more information about Summer Salon 2002, call 855-5296.