UTM art faculty make the most of quarantine

The UTM Fine Arts Gallery is currently hosting the “Made in Quarantine” collection through Nov. 13 displaying the work of seven of UTM’s faculty artists.

When I went to the gallery, there were strict limits on the number of people who could go in to view the artwork at one time. I was the only one there at the time, so I suspect that anyone wanting to see the collection in person should have no trouble. Apart from the gallery being very open, masking and sanitizing rules still applied, so COVID shouldn’t be keeping anyone away from making an excursion over to Fine Arts to view the collection.

The hours the gallery is open, however, might. The gallery is open Mon. through Fri., but only between the hours of 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Nevertheless, it’s a small collection and one you can browse within an hour.

The most striking piece in the collection was entitled “Even Anxiety is Mediated” by Sarah Haig. It is a photo collection that dominates a large portion of the right-hand wall in the gallery composed of dozens of photographs arranged in rectangular panels meant to mimic a Zoom conference call.

At the online opening event posted to the UTM Department of Visual and Theatre Arts’ Facebook page, Haig explained that the piece symbolized the isolation and anxiety of online instruction, especially as, throughout the semester, her classes seemed less and less engaged.

Another noteworthy collection-within-the-collection was a series of stoneware vessels and platters by David McBeth entitled “Seeds Well Planted” and “Homage to Darrell McGinnis” respectively. McBeth dedicated both to his late mentor and graduate professor Darrell McGinnis who taught at Fort Hays State University in Kansas. The pieces featured particularly detailed texture-work and the platters, with their incorporation of the “knobs” as McBeth called them, demonstrated an interesting composition.

David and his wife Donna McBeth also collaborated on a set of dinnerware they called “Together at the Table,” which included bowls, cups, a candle-holder and well-matching woven placemats. I must admit, the display looked inviting enough to sit down and have breakfast on the spot. Donna McBeth’s individual contribution included several woven paper baskets of a very vibrant and diverse color pattern and a woven shawl.

One final piece I found particularly noteworthy was “Everything in its Right Place,” a still-life, oil-on-canvas painting by Jason Stout. This particular painting, which is part of a series by the same author depicting the same still-life in different configurations, was, in my opinion, the strongest of Stout’s work at the gallery. The objects arranged in such a way as to simulate the clutter of a house under quarantine was very fitting with the theme of the gallery overall, but I particularly liked the way the objects simulated movement in such a way as to convey the anxious energy of being cooped up inside one’s house.

The gallery featured many other interesting pieces, any one of which would be worth the brief walk over to Fine Arts to take a look at. Michelle Williams entered a set of acrylic on canvas portraits, Lane Last submitted a set of mixed media works with an interesting digital video component, and Dr. Windy Wang’s contribution, a collection of computer 3D models, demonstrated some of the capabilities of that new and emerging field in art, especially her interior scenes, in terms of realism and especially lighting.

The “Made in Quarantine” collection demonstrates well the talent and skill of UTM’s art faculty and expresses sentiments I think many of us can agree with about the intersection of our education here at UTM and the pandemic.