By
Maggie Burnett
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Introductory painting students display projects in Student Union galleries
Students in a UA painting class will have their artwork displayed for the first time this weekend.
"Fresh Paint, Fresh Faces" opens at the Arizona and Rotunda Galleries Saturday in the Memorial Student Union.
Union galleries curator Chrissy Lieberman said because there are more than 13 students in the class, each of which is showing the majority of his or her projects from the semester, more than one gallery had to be used for the exhibit.
"Generally we have exhibits from artists from in or out of town, but usually not beginning student painters," she said. "These are the roughest of the rough."
All the artwork in the exhibit comes from students in University of Arizona painting and drawing professor Barbara Rogers' beginning level painting class. The students were asked to produce one painting each class based on a series of techniques they were taught.
"This is a unique approach in that we were not assigned to do different subjects but rather different techniques each class period," said Asa Palmer, a UA fine arts post-baccalaureate and student in the class. "You begin to discover things about yourself much more quickly."
Other students agreed that focusing on technique rather than subject matter made painting the pieces much more interesting.
Yet, the focus of each piece still held significant meaning for some.
"My subjects are basically about delusions and self-portraits," said Alden Corey, a visual communication junior. "I find this subject really interesting. If I could pick another major, it'd be something like that."
Despite Rogers' singular approach to teaching, several students said they still found it difficult to produce a complete piece in just one three-hour class period.
"It's hard because once you start a painting and it doesn't come out the way you want it to, you spend many more hours on it than you wanted," Corey said. "I still think this is the best way to teach beginning painting. No complaints here."
About 15 techniques were taught to the students over the course of the semester. The last three projects assigned were to be a combination of several techniques.
"It's a really unique experience in the way she teaches it because you get a focus on embracing the process of painting rather than focusing on the end product," said Emily Yetman, a studio art sophomore. "When you allow yourself to just relax and go with it, you get a better result."
Lieberman explained that 25 percent of the profits from pieces sold in the exhibit will go toward the newly founded "Artists Helping Artists" scholarship. This money would have typically gone to the Arizona and Rotunda galleries, run by the department of Student Programs.
"We decided it would be a good place for the money to go, especially since the gallery is in limbo at the Student Union," she said.
Maggie Burnett can be reached at catalyst@wildcat.arizona.edu.
INFOBOX: The UA student exhibit "Fresh Paint, Fresh Faces" can be seen in the Arizona and Rotunda galleries of the Memorial Student Union beginning Saturday. The exhibit runs through Jan. 11.
