During the Fall 2014 semester, students enrolled in Professor Nathan Peck’s Portfolio Seminar class were given the opportunity to explore their artistic talents.
Each freshman student created 15 original pieces throughout the semester. Now, the students are being given the opportunity to present their pieces in an art show on display at the Visual Arts Center. There will be a closing reception for the show on February 5th from 5:00pm – 7:00pm.
“The purpose of the class is to introduce new art and design majors to how the department functions and also what it means to be a successful artist or designer, which, in my opinion, comes primarily down to discipline – creative discipline,” said Peck.
According to Peck, this creative discipline can be found through building a regular schedule for art; he says it is important for artists to put aside time to create work as well as take the time to document the work.
Throughout the semester, Peck’s students were required to work on their pieces each week and keep a record of their creations.
“Students both create work by deeply thinking about it and cataloging it, documenting it, and that sort of thing,” Peck said. “So it’s very different than my personal experience from just completing assignments.”
What is unique about this course is that the students have a great deal of creative freedom.
Other than working on their projects and documenting their progress every week, students have free range.
“The artwork that the students make in this class [is] very much up to the student to decide. What they’re going to make, what medium they’re going to operate in… Even to a certain degree, the subject matter that they pursue is very much up to them,” said Peck.
This creative freedom is vital to students’ personal growth in terms of both education and in art.
Cathie Ruggie Saunders, Associate Professor and Gallery Director, said, “The [freshman art] show provides a wonderful opportunity to ‘benchmark’ the growth these students experience within their time here at SXU. By viewing this show, and then viewing the work of these students their senior year in their thesis exhibition, one gets a good picture of how their technical skills and conceptual thinking have matured.”
Peck also noted the importance of students’ growth; he cites his favorite part of the course and the show is seeing his students’ work go from its planning stages to being a finished product.
“[In] the very beginning, to see people start to frame their ideas, and the very end when they’re literally, physically framing their ideas seems to be the [most fun],” Peck said.
Portfolio Seminar is offered every fall semester and is open to new or incoming students at the University. Although Professor Peck is the main instructor, he
says that the course is a department-wide collaboration and allows the students to get their feet wet in the department.
“The other fun thing is that over the course of the semester, many— unfortunately not all—but many other faculties from the art and design department visit the class, show a little bit about what they do and then also offer critical analysis to the students with what they’re doing,” Peck said.
In addition to the benefits of creative freedom and learning from several different professors, students also will have the advantage of gaining real-life gallery experience.
“[The art show] also gives [students] a ‘taste,’ early on, of the thrill of having their work in an actual gallery setting,” Saunders said.
Freshman art student Esmeralda Estrada says she looks forward to having her art on display. She has three watercolor pieces in the show.
“I am excited; this will be my first time in an art show, now that I am in college. I’m also a bit nervous. I hope that people like my work,” Estrada said.
Peck is confident that his students will impress at the art show. Peck said, “They’ve really sort of embraced each other and that’s sort of created a community around the creation of the work and discussing the work together and, of course, hanging the show together. This class really figured out how to use each other and use the resources very rapidly, and that’s to their benefit. The way the students arranged the show is really elegant and really beautiful.”
Katharine Arvia
Senior News Editor