Exhibition Highlights

Ironically Untitled
1121 Haas Center for Performing Arts
November 13 - 16, 2017
Reception: November 16, 5 -7 p.m.

Ironically Untitled is a Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Exhibit featuring the works of:

•Miles Felsenfeld, BFA student in Illustration

•Katelyn Johnson, BFA student in Jewelry and Metalsmithing

•Katrina McVay, BFA student in Illustration

•Jennifer Ochoa, BFA student in Jewelry and Metalsmithing

Opening November 13th, 2017, Ironically Untitled was a Senior Bachelor of Fine Arts show featuring four artists exploring narrative, with journaling, jewelry, and textile.  The exhibition itself consisted of two separate, yet related sections.  The first section explored the various fields of illustration; with textile design, and journaling.  The second celebrates jewelry; one artist explored how jewelry can represent the past and mourning while the other artist tells the story of a personal journey.

The show celebrated storytelling in the mixed media presentation.  The reception was held Thursday, November 16th from 5 - 7 p.m., with the artists.  It featured a live model, warm food, and a merchandise table.

 

FIVE CHAPTERS, Photography Senior Thesis Exhibition
Art Gallery, 1121 Haas Center for Performing Arts
November 28-December 9, 2017
Reception:  Thursday, November 30, 5-7 p.m.
Special Showing:  Saturday, December 9, 4-5:30 p.m.

The Photography Program was honored to present, Five Chapters, an exhibition featuring five image makers and their best individual work. Including a variety of styles and commentaries, this show was a representation of the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another.

The Department of Visual and Media Arts is a proud sponsor of these graduates.  Thursday, November 30 from 5-7 p.m. was the photographers’ public reception that included light refreshments. The photographers wee present which provided the viewers a great opportunity to discuss their work, as well as getting an understanding of each process used. Those participating in Five Chapters included: Jordan Barnett, Sean Barr, JJ Butts, Brittany Patrosso, and Kasey Reno.

 A Special Viewing took place after commencement on Saturday, December 9 from 4-5:30 p.m. This event was free and open to the public. All artwork was available for purchase and JPEGs would be readily available upon request.

 

Afghanistan to Morocco: Journeys of Jim and Virginia Goode 1967-2017
August 25–October 27, 2017
Monday, September 18, 5–7 p.m.
1121 Haas Center for Performing Arts
GVSU Professor Jim Goode and his wife, Virginia, have traveled the Middle East during the last 50 years. Their journeys, for work and pleasure, have taken them to 11 countries, from Afghanistan to Morocco. The Goodes have taken great satisfaction in introducing more than 100 Grand Valley students, faculty, staff, and friends to the peoples, cultures, and landscapes of this area of the world. Along the way, they acquired a wide variety of ceramics, rugs, textiles, and many other everyday objects. Very few of them were made for display; most represent simple instruments of daily life. This exhibition brought together a selection of these items and allows the visitor a glimpse of Middle Eastern culture as represented by the collection.

Goode has taught in the history department at Grand Valley since 1986 and founded both the Middle East studies program and the Model Arab League on campus. As a result of his commitment to teaching, leadership in study abroad programs to the Middle East, and contributions toward global learning at Grand Valley, Goode was awarded the Distinguished Service Award in 2006 and the Faculty Internationalization Award in 2015. Virginia Goode retired as office coordinator of the Chemistry Department in 2006.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFxbineD8Hs

 

Drawn from the Desert: Australian Aboriginal Paintings from the Central and Western Deserts
West Wall Gallery, L. V. Eberhard Center
June 16 – October 27, 2017
Between 1940-60, the Australian government forced Aboriginal groups off their lands and into organized communities of the Central Desert region and along the northern coast. Papunya, located approximately 150 miles northwest of Alice Springs, was the last community established to collect these displaced groups, and where the contemporary Australian Aboriginal art movement began.

This exhibition was drawn out of a recent gift of Australian Aboriginal paintings to GVSU, created by artists from Papunya and the surrounding region. It features artwork that provides insight into Aboriginal dreamings – retellings of important ancient stories and symbols – and the sacred sites of this vast and arid landscape.

 

Roger That! The Life of Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee
Russel H. Kirkhof Center Gallery
July 7 – October 27, 2017
Roger Bruce Chaffee was chosen to be one of America’s first Apollo astronauts as part of NASA’s program to send a man to the surface of the moon and back. Tragically, the 31-year old native of Grand Rapids died along with his two fellow crew members when a fire broke out inside their spacecraft during a routine test on January 27, 1967. The photo exhibition “Roger That! The Life of Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee,” honored the 50th anniversary of that tragedy and seeks to educate the public on his life and achievements. It was part of a two-day celebration that was hosted by Grand Valley State University and the Grand Rapids Public Museum on February 10 - 11, 2017. For more updated information, visit www.gvsu.edu/rogerthat

 

Common Balance: Still Life Paintings by Mike McDonnell
Blue Wall Gallery, Richard M. DeVos Center, Building B
May 12 – September 22, 2017
In the early 1980’s, Michigan-based artist Mike McDonnell became enamored with still life arrangements of common household objects. He began by drawing each object individually, then patiently applied multiple glazes of watercolor paint to achieve rich color and the illusion of realism. This selection of work, from 1982-2009, illustrated how McDonnell strived to idealize common objects in balanced and unique groupings.

 

Humanitarian Work in Havana: The Story of First-Hand Aid
Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall
May 12 – September 22, 2017
In June, 2012 Gordon Alderink, Assistant Professor in Physical Therapy, and Charlie Pryor, senior Grand Valley State University (GVSU) film and video student, traveled to Havana, Cuba with First-Hand Aid (FHA).  FHA is an humanitarian organization from Grand Rapids who has been traveling to Cuba for almost two decades.  Alderink and Pryor learned of FHA during an earlier trip to Havana with FHA and the GVSU baseball team.  However, during the previous trip they were not able to join in the work of FHA.  So, they decided that they had to go back!

This exhibit was created to share the FHA experience with GVSU.  And, to inform the audience about the Cuban national health system, its strengths and its weaknesses, and FHA’s story.  The exhibit introduced the audience to the FHA team, new Cuban friends, and the work FHA does.

 

The Universal Language: Photography from Oman
Red Wall Gallery, Lake Ontario Hall
January 6 –May 5, 2017
During the spring of 2015, Grand Valley State University senior Gabriella Patti participated in a faculty-led trip to Oman and the United Arab Emirates. For five weeks she studied Arabic and business, spending the majority of her time in a small Omani town called Ibri. This immersive program challenged Patti, both academically and personally, and opened her eyes to a brand new understanding of other people and cultures.

Humanitarian Work in Havana: The Story of First-Hand Aid
Blue Wall Gallery, Richard M. DeVos Center, Building B
November 7, 2016 – May 5, 2017
In June, 2012 Gordon Alderink, Assistant Professor in Physical Therapy, and Charlie Pryor, senior Grand Valley State University (GVSU) film and video student, traveled to Havana, Cuba with First-Hand Aid (FHA).  FHA is a humanitarian organization from Grand Rapids who has been traveling to Cuba for almost two decades.  Alderink and Pryor learned of FHA during an earlier trip to Havana with FHA and the GVSU baseball team.  However, during the previous trip they were not able to join in the work of FHA.  So, they decided that they had to go back!

This exhibit was created to share the FHA experience with GVSU.  And, to inform the audience about the Cuban national health system, its strengths and its weaknesses, and FHA’s story.  The exhibit will introduce the audience to the FHA team, new Cuban friends, and the work FHA does.
 

The School of Communications Photography Senior Thesis Exhibition - As Titled;
Location:  Art Gallery. 1121 Performing Arts Center
Dates:  April 18 - 29, 2017
Reception:  Thursday, April 20 from 5 – 7 p.m.
Special Showing:  Saturday, April 29 from 10:00 –11:30 a.m.
The Photography Program, sponsored by the School of Communications, was honored to present As Titled:  a photography display showing collaborative photographic exhibition work that showcased individuality and the importance of differences in camerawork. The exhibition included images from Lindsay Bruce, Danae Chudy, Jordan Clark, Autumn Hand, and Chantal Suhling.
 

grid nation: Graphic Design Senior BFA Exhibition
Art Gallery, 1121 Performing Arts Center
SHOWING:  April 10 - 13, 2017
RECEPTION: Thursday, April 13, 5 to 7 p.m.
Graphic Design Senior BFA Exhibition of Student Work by:  Nathanael Allen, Hannah Colmer, Stephen Dobrzynski, Kathryn Dover, Bethany Houghton, Elizabeth LaValle, Nicolette Looks, Micah Martin, Heidi Mihm, Caitlin Plassenthal, Lina Pierson, Catherine Rader, Jeremy Shane, Carissa Storms, and Ryan Van Ham
 

Comfortably Numb
Art Gallery, 1121 Performing Arts Center
January 16 – March 31, 2017
Reception: January 19, 2017, 5 – 7 p.m.
Comfortably Numb was an ongoing archive consisting of clippings from magazines and other printed matter. Over 2,000 framed images comprised this amalgam of sampled visual information functioning as detritus and fragments of data. The work explored our perceptual engagement with the incessant media overload that we seem to seek and endure.

Artist Nayda Collazo-Llorens, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a visual artist engaged in a multi-disciplinary practice. Her work examines the way in which we perceive and process information, often dealing with navigation, memory, language, hyper-connectivity and noise. She was the Stuart & Barbara Padnos Distinguished Artist-in-Residence in the Department of Art and Design at Grand Valley State University for the past three academic years. This exhibition served as one of the culminating projects of her residency.


Roger That! The Life of Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee
January 9 - March 31, 2017
West Wall Gallery, L. V. Eberhard Center
Roger Bruce Chaffee was chosen to be one of America’s first Apollo astronauts as part of NASA’s program to send a man to the surface of the moon and back. Tragically, the 31-year old native of Grand Rapids died along with his two fellow crew members when a fire broke out inside their spacecraft during a routine test on January 27, 1967. The photo exhibition “Roger That! The Life of Astronaut Roger B. Chaffee,” honors the 50th anniversary of that tragedy and seeks to educate the public on his life and achievements. It was part of a two-day celebration that will be hosted by Grand Valley State University and the Grand Rapids Public Museum on February 10th and 11th. For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/rogerthat
 

To Sustain a Continent: An Exploration of South African Resource Management
Russel H. Kirkhof Center Gallery
January 6 - February 24, 2017
During the late spring and early summer of 2015, Grand Valley State University student Hannah Mico undertook a study abroad program partially funded through the GVSU Padnos International Center.

Hannah studied resource management issues confronting communities bordering the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and the wildlife living within the reserve. She encountered a spectrum of conditions and circumstances that spoke to broader, worldwide issues; she met new cultures; and she discovered a sense of the familiar within a dramatically different environment.

To Sustain a Continent combines photographs taken by Mico with observations regarding her study abroad experience.