Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Vol. CLIV, Issue 6
Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Fine arts majors discuss plans for theses

by Hailey Rogge
STAFF WRITER

For some senior students, the final culmination of their greatest academic efforts will be publicly displayed for everyone to critique –– but that’s the way studio art majors want it to be.

Whitman’s studio art majors begin the art thesis process during the fall, experimenting with their work in order to formulate a rough idea for their final projects. They take a required seminar class, team-taught by Professor Charles Timm-Ballard and Visiting Assistant Professor Philip Miner, in which they read critical theory from the perspective of artists, write artist’s statements and discuss post-graduate engagements and possibilities.

In the spring, the students develop their shows, working independently and subjecting their art to both formal and informal critique. Each builds his or her unique interests, styles, and mediums around a particular theme or exploration. Tyler Kohlhoff, for example, has based his thesis on “the fringe,” defined as an edge or border that is in stark contrast to a juxtaposed texture or surface. His work is composed of photographs, ceramics and recorded sound. Jessica Salvador’s thesis focuses on gender roles and family. All of the students will ultimately make both a written and oral defense of their thesis before a panel.

“In a really rough and general way, the students’ work here mirrors the way the art world has moved away from strict disciplines to a kind of hybrid, cross-discipline, lots of installations,” said Timm-Ballard. “It is a culmination of two semesters worth of work, thought of as a capstone experience to reflect the point they have arrived at as visual beings at Whitman.”

In April, the senior art majors will work together along with professors and Sheehan Gallery curator Ian Boyden to open the senior thesis art exhibition, designed to emulate a professional group display. Even the poster that promotes it is traditionally a team project –– the ones from previous years can be seen hanging throughout Olin.

With the completion of Whitman’s new Fouts Center for Visual Arts, to be open for the 2008 fall semester, Timm-Ballard anticipates an even more collaborative learning atmosphere. Currently, seniors have the option of a studio in a house across from the sub shop on Boyer Avenue, but they often have to find their own space, one more suitable for their specific projects. Fouts Center, once it is finished, will provide personal studio space inside its walls for each of them, providing the Whitman community with a better opportunity to observe the trials and tribulations of the studio art major: “Having the seniors in the building will make it so underclass students can view their work, hear their conversations, and understand their struggles.”

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