CASSIE TOMLIN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Eleonor Leon, a studio art senior with an emphasis on painting and sculpture, installs her paintings in the Fremont House yesterday. "The Colorful Crowd," an exhibition of 40 undergraduate and graduate art students, run today tonight from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. in the Fremont House, 1232 N. Fremont Ave.

Sylvia K. Griffin did not want to waste space when exhibiting her five-painting "Color Theory" in the College of Fine Arts' Fremont House.

Because Griffin's paintings take up only one room of the six-room, two-bathroom gallery space, she decided to extend her one-person show to a conglomeration of her peers whose work she has followed for four years in the School of Art.

Griffin said she asked her friend and fellow painting and sculpture senior Eleonor Leon, to help her selectively invite students whose work they admire to exhibit in the show as well.

"I only needed one little room, so I figured, 'Why not fill it up with art?'" Griffin said.

"The Colorful Crowd," comprising the artwork of 40 undergraduate and graduate students including the work of four artists currently on exhibit in the School of Art's thesis show, will exhibit their paintings and sculptures today from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Fremont House, 1232 N. Fremont Ave.

"All different people are coming together from different backgrounds and races with something in common, which is art," Griffin said. "It's a completely varied style."

Griffin said the concept for the show was inspired by the intent of her paintings, which concern color and its effect on emotions.

Thom Neary, a studio art senior with an emphasis in painting, said he is a "Technicolor guy" whose work fits perfectly in "The Colorful Crowd."

"Its good to get a bunch of artists together, enjoying camaraderie and artist-ship," Neary said. "It tightens up the community and bonds us."

Griffin said she initially booked the Fremont House to show "Color Theory" because it was funded by her Medici Scholarship, part of which was a requirement to exhibit the work.

Julie-Ann Plax, associate director of the School of Art, said the College of Fine Arts' Medici Scholar Program matches students with "Medici Patrons" who donate $500 to any student in the department.

Plax said students apply for the scholarship with a description of how they would use the money, which ranges from travel expenses to costs of conferences or workshops to funding for project materials.

"This is really a big and wonderful thing for the students," Plax said. "As with the Colorful Crowd show, oftentimes exhibitions come out of the Medici projects."

Carlton Bradford, a sculpture instructor in the School of Art, said the Fremont House is the only venue for students to show temporary, more avant-garde work.

"You can sign up with your buddies and put a themed show together," Bradford said.

James Cook, an assistant professor in the School of Art, said the space is almost always used by students and is ideal for installation purposes. He said some art classes secure the space for about two weeks throughout the semester and install their work together.

Cook said the space has housed about four shows per semester on and off for about 10 years.

"The greatest value is that the students have a space with which they can do virtually anything," Cook said. "So many wacky things have been done there."

Cook said students can use the house however they wish as long as they restore it afterwards to its "original condition," which means at least adding a new coat of white paint to the walls.

Leon and Griffin said putting the show together has been chaotic, but has taught them about organizing and managing shows.

"It's a very large project with so many details, and it's been overwhelming, but it's near the end and we're still friends," Griffin said.