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While the physical exhibition, “Sensory Narratives Through Sculpture,” just closed, we are excited to continue our online content! The exhibition is a collaboration between Boyden Gallery and the ARTH 440 class and these questions are brought to you by two of the students from the class, Alexandra and Claire. Keep tuned for more about this exquisite Senufo-style bird and the fourteen other sculptures from the College’s Collection that were part of the exhibition.

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SMCM’s ARTH 440 class has created an exhibition with Boyden Gallery: “Sensory Narratives Through Sculpture.” The exhibition will open October 27 at 6:30pm. To celebrate this, two of the students from the class, Alexandra and Claire, share a Q&A about their experience working on the exhibition. 

Q&A text: Claire: What’s something you’ve learned while setting up the exhibition? Alexandra: Seeing how much attention is put into every little detail has made me admire museums more.

Alexandra: What has the experience of selecting objects for the exhibition been like?

Claire: It’s been a very rewarding experience to be able to help choose the objects that visitors will get to see from our collection. Writing the object labels has given me a new perspective on the works in SMCM’s collection.

Claire: What’s something that you’ve found challenging during this process?

Alexandra: It’s been a challenge to try and unify a diverse collection for this exhibition while maintaining the central idea of sensory narratives.

Alexandra: What’s something that has surprised you during this project?

Claire: I’ve become a lot more interested in material culture this semester, so it was a nice surprise to be able to learn more about that through this collection. 

Alexandra: Any final thoughts?

Claire: It’s been interesting to work on creating a gallery space while at home. I’m also happy that our exhibition will be able to reach a wider audience this year because it will be available online as well as in person.

Please let us know if you have any questions!

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Join us for a virtual opening of “Sensory Narratives through Sculpture” on Tuesday Oct 27 6:30-7pm on Zoom (https://smcm.zoom.us/j/95740359291 Passcode: 061761) to celebrate the work of ARTH440 students! Co-created and produced by the Boyden Gallery and SMCM students as the Gallery as Learning Lab, the exhibition invites visitors to experience 15 sculptures from the College’s collection through sensory journeys. Make an appointment at boydengallery@smcm.edu to see the exhibition in person from Oct 27 - Nov 7 and follow us on the web and social media for online content.

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Our exhibition and collections research is in full swing with ARTH440’s The Gallery as Learning Lab like with this cast of the “Dying Lioness.” Loaned to the College from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this exceptional cast was made from part of a relief wall panel from the palace of Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, at Nineveh in modern day Iraq. Hear more about ancient casts and the politics of replication with Dr. Kimberly Cassibry, Associate Professor at Wellesley College, at Boyden Gallery’s public lecture on Thursday Oct 1 at 7pm. Zoom: https://smcm.zoom.us/j/97700746136 - Passcode: 318750 Following the lecture, Boyden Gallery Director Erin Peters will be in conversation with the speaker featuring questions submitted by ARTH440 students. (at Boyden Gallery, St. Mary's College of Maryland) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFsFEenM8Ti/?igshid=1o9mobk3i3qnw

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We’re excited to announce the Boyden Gallery and ARTH440 collaborative exhibition “The Gallery as Learning Lab” is underway! Please contact us at boydengallery@smcm.edu for an appointment to visit our work in process, follow our work on the web and via social media.

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The 2020 All-Student Show is up for one more week! Make an appointment to see it at boydengallery@smcm.edu.

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Welcome to the start of a new semester, Seahawks! 

While the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the physical exhibition in the spring semester, the 2020 All-Student Show is open August 17 - 29 by appointment! Please schedule a time to see the work of SMCM student artists through boydengallery@smcm.edu and take a look at the catalog.

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Graduating Senior Spotlight for the SMCM 2020 All-Student Show

Gillian Borkowski from the Class of 2020 won the Arts Alliance Patti Runco Award for Best in the 2020 All-Student Show for 

“Rest/Pose #1,” 2019, Gouache, 18 x 24

Congrats Gillian, and all SMCM Alumni!!

In an interview conducted in April-May 2020 with Boyden Gallery’s Spring 2020 Professional Fellow, Daniel Mixson, Gillian said: 

DM: In your artist’s statement, you said that, in this piece, you “negotiate between the actuality of my body and the nuanced perceptions I impress upon it.” What do you feel the difference between the actuality of your body and your own perceptions of it are?

GB: It’s not a secret that I’m invested in feminist philosophy and the idea that, for myself, I don’t know if I consider my body to be a female body, but as for society, it is a female body, and it impresses these standards of what it should look like, how it should perform, if it’s performing it accurately. Or if it’s doing what it should be doing within the space it’s allotted in society, and those are the things in society that you feel impressed upon yourself as a woman or as a person in a female coded body about how you should perform in that body and how it should look. I think that there are a lot of things that, when you’re looking at your own body, the mold of the standard that you have to fit into. You see things and you think, these fit, these don’t, and for me these can become obsessive points, and something you hyperfixate on.

DM: Your artistic statement, in and of itself, is extremely descriptive. Do you consider it to be an extension of the artistic presentation? What do you hope readers might understand about your work in conjunction with the artistic statement?

GB: It should be said that this work was from the midpoint progression of my SMP. And I’ve gotten to this point where I’ve realized that the writing I do about my work is really important to understanding the work itself. I’m an art history minor, and art history is something I’m super interested in, and writing about visual language and imagery is important to understand in itself. I do enjoy having people be able to read my artist statement alongside my work, because I feel it gives them a little more perspective, and I do think that I like, with this work, having that statement along with it. With the work I’m continuing to make that’s in the same line with that work, I’ve been adding text to it so that the reading and visual experiences are happening at the same time. I think that it is important to read along with it, especially because a lot of my work, and a lot of the visual language I use and appreciate are all inspired by artists who consider themselves feminist. I think that the visuals should stand on their own, but reading it alongside will only help the viewer make their connection to the piece.

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Fifth Year Spotlight for the SMCM 2020 All-Student Show

Briana Melanie White won the Fifth Year Outstanding Work in the All-Student Show for 

“The Futility of Pleasure,” 2020, Digital photograph on matte paper, 18 x 24

Our student artist wrote in the artist’s statement: 

Using photography, I create a world where I hold the ability to change and distort familiar aspects of life. Eyes, usually highlighted as the doorway to one’s soul, are dulled and hidden, establishing a disconnect between the figure and reality. This photograph functions as a self portrait, a reflection of myself and the relationship a person can have with themselves as they reach turning points in their lives. Moments in time where there is a lack of self-knowing and understanding that occurs over and over again as humans reach milestones and great periods of change. The presence of smoke signifies the ephemerality of life and the transient nature of all its components. The photo functions as a reminder of mortality and transience.

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Fourth Year Spotlight for the SMCM 2020 All-Student Show

Danielle Harris-Burnett won the Fourth Year Outstanding Work in the All-Student Show for 

“Liminal World of the Mole Men,” 2019, Digital photograph, 6 x 8

In an interview with Boyden Gallery’s Spring 2020 Professional Fellow, Daniel Mixson, conducted in April-May 2020, our student artist said:

DM: What inspired the title of this piece?

DH-B: It’s really just, when it was finished, the way it looked like a couple of skyscrapers going up into the sky. I was really interested in the architecture of the station.

DM: In your artist’s statement, you mentioned that your experience when riding a train is “disorienting”, why so?

DH-B: I don’t know what it is. It’s certainly a part of my fear of heights. Just entering these sort of spaces. But it’s really just this feeling that the ground beneath you really isn’t solid, which is what I was trying to convey in this piece.

DM: What drew you to photograph this particular scene?

DH-B: In the moment, I was visiting DC with my family at the time. It was just the fact that we were stopped at the moment to get directions. The symmetry of the station drew me to it.

DM: How did you take this picture (angle, objects, the target, etc.)?

DH-B: There’s this escalator that goes down to the actual station where the trains are. There’s this part where you’re facing the escalator and there’s these two black slate pieces leading you into it, and it’s focused on the escalator and the tunnels below.

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Third Year Spotlight for the SMCM 2020 All-Student Show

Jasper Lopez won the Third Year Outstanding Work in the SMCM All-Student Show for 

“The Witch’s Song,” 2019, Fabric, Polymer clay, Digital images on Glossy paper, 7.5 x 5.5 x .5

In an interview with Boyden Gallery’s Spring 2020 Professional Fellow, Daniel Mixson, conducted in April-May 2020, our student artist said:

DM: Where did the inspiration for “The Witch’s Song” come from?

JL: This was actually a story that I had written in Spanish for one of my classes during my freshman year! It is a story that I have been building in my head since then and eventually it became this! I am not really sure where the inspiration for the story came from, but once I had the story (and translated it back into English), I started to look into tarot cards and things that are seen as “witchy” since the story is about a young witch. 

DM: Is there a specific order in which the cards should be read? Or is each one its own smaller story that exists as part of the overarching story?

JL: There is a specific order to read the cards! It is a very small detail, but on the top center of the cards I had put the moon phases starting from a new moon to a full moon. I think it cycles through the phases almost twice. When reading the story, I would suggest following that (or the table of contents that is on the first card) to read the story in order, then playing around with the cards a bit and actually using them for a tarot reading!

DM: What does the story of “The Witch’s Song” mean to you?

JL: To me, The Witch’s Song is the start of an exciting new adventure for me, just as it is the start of an adventure for the main character of the story, Adelina. I feel that the creation of this book is a turning point in my art and that it has opened up my world to book arts, which is now a path that I wish to continue to pursue.

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Second Year Spotlight for the SMCM 2020 All-Student Show

Tori Wertin won the Second Year Outstanding Work in the SMCM 2020 All-Student Show for 

“My Neighborhood Fox,” 2020, Acrylic paint, 12 x 12

Our student artist said the following in an interview with Boyden Gallery’s Spring 2020 Professional Fellow, Daniel Mixson, in April-May 2020: 

DM: Of all the potential artistic targets, why choose this fox?

TW: I chose this fox mostly because of his colors. I love using lots of color in my paintings and his colors were just so bright and beautiful I just had to paint him.

DM: How did you accomplish this painting? Did you work from memory? How did you create the texture of the fur?

TW: I worked from a photo I had found of a fox and changed his colors a little from what I remember Frank to look like, and I created the texture of the fur using different shades of the same color and just layering with a small fine tip brush.

DM: What inspired the name “Frank”

TW: My mom and I just like naming the wild animals that stay around our house and that is just the name I came up with at the time. 

DM: What is your favorite memory of Frank?

TW: My favorite memory of Frank is when he just goes into the brush a little in the forest and just watches his surroundings. He seems to be so curious in everything and it just fascinates me to watch him.

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First Year Spotlight for the SMCM 2020 All-Student Show

Gabrielle Cohen won the First Year Outstanding Work in the SMCM All-Student Show for 

“Civil,” 2019, India Ink and Charcoal, 30 x 22

Our student artist said the following in an interview with Boyden Gallery’s Spring 2020 Professional Fellow, Daniel Mixson, in April-May 2020:

DM: What drew you to this specific aspect of the building?

GC: The building is huge, and everybody’s looking and trying to count the windows and look at all the pillars inside. It was really cold that day and we ducked inside an entryway and the ironwork to create the door, nobody would notice that, and hundreds of people would walk through there every day, and no one would notice that. And the whole point of it was that it’s really underappreciated. I had been on that street hundreds of times before, and I had never realized it was so important in all of the civil rights marches. So it was sort of a parallel to things that aren’t noticed or cared about.

DM: In your artist’s statement, you noted that this was a “small overlooked piece” of a much larger building. What meaning does this contrast have to you?

GC: I think that, when we think about the civil rights movement, we tend to think about the big figures. We tend to think about MLK and Rosa Parks but we overlook the hundreds of thousands of people that would march and were risking their lives and getting hurt. And we overlook all the civilians too, it wasn’t just a few people, it was a whole group gathered together.

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Congratulations SMCM student artists and award winners for the 51st Annual All-Student Exhibition! Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the exhibition will take place online through the 51st All-Student Exhibition 2020 by St. Mary’s College of Maryland catalog. A physical exhibition in the Boyden Gallery will occur following the return to the SMCM campus. Stay tuned over the summer for interviews with our prize-winning student artists!

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Congratulations SMCM Art and Art History students Ashleigh Molina, Anna Mozingo, Delilah Parks, Katie Loebach, Gillian Borkoski, Tara Auman, Carol Morris, and Emory Knott on amazing SMP presentations!

Make sure to see the Art SMP students’ work on the Boyden Gallery website and the Art SMP Group Exhibition website.

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St. Mary’s Project 2018 Final Exhibition

Exhibiting Artists: Madeleine Boies Alan Frampton Nina Harris Natalie Krissoff Tim McKay Katia Meisinger Mayris Rios Mia Thuro Aine White

SMP Mentor: Lisa Scheer

Photographs courtesy of Sami Wright, Gallery Attendant.

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49th Annual All Student Exhibition

The All Student Art Exhibition is an annual celebration of student creativity and accomplishment in the visual arts. Each year, an outside juror selects artwork for the exhibition that best represents the quality and diversity of student creative work. This year’s juror, Lori L. Rubeling is an accomplished educator, designer, and curator from Stevenson University in Owings Mills Maryland.

Photographs courtesy of Sami Wright, Gallery Attendant.