If you’ve ever stowed yourself away in Clemons Library during the wee hours of the morning, writing papers or studying for finals, you know what I mean when I say that Clemons can start to look and feel a little like a tomb around 3 a.m. If you’ve been in the library lately, however, you may have noticed a bit of a change to this crypt. “Identity,” a newly installed collection of student artwork displayed throughout Clemons, is the Student Arts Committee’s answer to the library’s drab aesthetics.
“Clemons is ugly — there’s no other way to look at it,” said third-year College student Kelsey Petrie, co-chair of the Student Arts Committee. “Even the administration knows it. They eagerly took on our project and are as excited about it as we are. Anything we could do to spruce it up would be an improvement, and we gladly took on that challenge.”
The 34 works of art currently on display in Clemons were chosen from 75 student entries. One of these students who has a piece on display, first-year Lindsay Ardiff, is both excited about the opportunity to show her art and surprised at the attention her work is getting. Her piece, entitled “Never Forgotten,” is featured prominently at the stairway landing between fourth and third floors.
“When I submitted it, I didn’t expect that my drawing would be hung in such a high-traffic location,” Ardiff said. “I was thinking more like a dark corner of the Clemons basement. On top of that, I didn’t expect so many people to stop and read the little ID tag next to it. I am happy that my art finally has an audience. It will just take a little getting used to.”
Ardiff’s story highlights the project’s second purpose: making student art visible. Many of the pieces, including Ardiff’s work, are products of the art classes taught here at the University.
“The piece was my final project for Drawing I last semester, and my professor had encouraged me to submit to a show,” Ardiff noted. “I figured it wasn’t fair to keep the drawing rolled up in my room at home.”
The exhibition provides arts students an opportunity to take their hard work and display it where many others will have access to it. “It gives their work a chance to be seen by a new and different crowd, one that may not stray over to Arts Grounds or Ruffin Hall quite as often,” Petrie said.
The title of this semester’s display, “Identity,” perfectly matches the idea behind the exhibition. The wide variety of works is a testament to the culturally and artistically diverse individuals in the University community.
Although the gallery will be a permanent fixture in Clemons, the content will be regularly updated. Student Arts Committee will be accepting submissions next semester for an entirely new and different show.
“It is our main goal to liberate students from their bittersweet relationship with the library and turn Clemons from dreary to lovable through artistic experience,” Petrie says.
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