Kent State University’s Gallery Club is gearing up to move its gallery “A Last Light: Seasonal Selections from the School of Art Collection” to the Kent State University Downtown Gallery this December.
The Gallery Club was revived this past semester by its President, Fi Burnham, a senior visual communication design major, and other students interested in the process of curating an art gallery.
“It gives students real-life experiences in working with artworks in a way that we go through the whole process,” said Grace Cleary, a senior studio art major and club member.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gallery Club was an active organization on campus, and Burnham said they chose to revive it because of their past experiences creating galleries.
“I have found so much enjoyment in working in gallery administration and learning about everything that goes into running a gallery or museum,” they said. “I wanted to create a way to share these skills and experiences with other people who may be interested in this side of the arts industry.”
The process started with selecting which pieces from the School of Art’s collection would be featured in the gallery, Cleary said.
Members selected a few pieces ranging from paintings and prints to physical pieces like a basket they thought fit the theme. Then, they made an argument to the club as to why their piece should be featured.
Eugene Murvin, a sophomore animation game design major and club member, selected “Les Tories Clowns” by Georges Rouault and “The God Belly” by Ernst Barlach.
Murvin felt “Les Tories Clowns” possessed dark undertones matching the gallery’s theme of a transitional period between the fall and winter.
“During the fall, it shifts from the light to the more darker early times,” he said. “This feels like a personal moment between three friends talking about their lives.”
Since the process of creating the gallery started in October, the club chose an autumnal theme.
However, this theme also aligns with the holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, that the Kent community has already celebrated or is preparing to, said Mad Fairweather, a senior art history major and club member.
“I work at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and sometimes they have some very overly academic sorts of installations,” they said. “We wanted the whole general public to have a good experience with it. We don’t want people to feel too confused about, ‘Why is this piece here?’’
The gallery’s move downtown makes it historic as it is one of the first times a student-curated gallery will be featured in the Downtown Gallery, and this is the university’s first art gallery club, Cleary said.
“Getting into something that is reserved for special things or really significant artists is such a significant moment for us that it’s secondary proof that we did good,” she said.
With its historical significance, members like Nicolette Moyer, a senior studio art major and club member, said she hopes people will learn to appreciate the process of curating an art gallery after seeing the show.
“I wish there was a way they can appreciate the process that goes into curating and installing an art show because it’s not as easy as people think, especially if they’ve never done it before,” she said. “It can be quite challenging, but it’s a fun challenge.”
The gallery will be displayed in the Downtown Gallery, located at 141 East Main Street, starting Dec. 12 until early January.