Connecting to students through art, STC Faculty unveils annual exhibition
This year’s Annual Art Faculty Exhibition that was unveiled on September 18 is open to the community and will continue to be displayed through November 17 at STC’s Pecan Campus Building B-103.
As a way to inspire future artists to be themselves and be proud of their artwork, South Texas College art faculty members annually showcase their unique art pieces demonstrating the exceptional talent and variety found within the college, hoping to develop a connection with their students as professional artists outside of the classroom.
This year’s Annual Art Faculty Exhibition was recently unveiled during a reception on campus. The exhibit is open to the community and will continue to be displayed through November 17 at STC’s Pecan Campus Building B, Room 103.
“It’s a celebration of our faculty and their creativity. We do this as an educational way for not only our students but the community to meet our instructors and interact with them and their type of art,” said Art Instructor and Gallery Director Thomas Matthews. “This year we had more people join in, which is exciting, we get to show our students that we don’t just talk about art but actually create it ourselves as professional artists who have participated in exhibitions locally, nationally and even worldwide.”
A total of 19 instructors participate in the exhibition that displays a wide range of processes and material such as photography, digital print, oil pastel, beeswax, graphite, ceramic and thread.
“There’s no theme as we all create our own individual artwork based on what we enjoy creating. We all have a different process and are inspired by different things,” he added.
For drawing instructor Scott Nicol, his untitled exhibition piece serves as a way to demonstrate what can be accomplished by mixing different pieces of art and materials.
“I often start drawing without having a clear goal in mind and I accumulate pieces that I later relate together, I do this to break out from overthinking and just work intuitively. I know it’s done when I’m excited about what I’m looking at,” he explained. “In this piece I combined three different drawings, made at different times, and used beeswax to make them transparent so you can see one through the other and so they can interact with each other.”
It’s a celebration of our faculty and their creativity. We do this as an educational way for not only our students but the community to meet our instructors and interact with them and their type of art. This year we had more people join in, which is exciting, we get to show our students that we don’t just talk about art but actually create it ourselves as professional artists who have participated in exhibitions locally, nationally and even worldwide
In contrast, for STC Art History Instructor Melissa Terry, participating in the exhibition is an opportunity to display her personal artwork, created as way to honor her children.
Her piece titled, “Nostalgic Spill (Fake Spill),” depicts a hand-embroidered work of art, composed of yarn, thread and fabrics from her children’s baby clothes.
“I have always been fascinated with the shape of spills and I used to get so mad when my children would make a mess, eventually that stopped, and I started missing it so I decided to take some of their old clothes that I had accumulated over the years and create a piece simulating a spill,” she explained. “I’m not a studio teacher, I teach history, but I’m so grateful I get to participate as well.”
STC’s Art Gallery hosts other various exhibitions all year round such as the Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, where selected artwork gets chosen to compete and be judged by an external professional artist and the Emerging Artist High School Exhibition, where STC host high school students’ art as a way to showcase what the college has to offer and encourage them to join the program.
The school’s Visual Arts and Graphic Arts programs allow students to combine courses which equips them with the skills, values and knowledge to grow as an artist as they prepare to become an essential part of the creative workforce. Both programs are offered across the Rio Grande Valley at STC’s Pecan, Starr and Mid-Valley campuses.
For more information on these or other programs offered at STC visit southtexascollege.edu/academics/visual-arts/ or call 956-872-6769.