The Xavierite
The Saint Xavier Visual Arts Center (VAC) gallery is running an exhibition titled “The Legacy of Monte Gerlach: 40 Years of Mentoring Photography Students.” The exhibition features the work of students who were mentored by Monte Gerlach, assoc iate professor of the Art & Design Department.
Gerlach, who has taught at Saint Xavier for 30 years, will be retiring after this semester. Senior studio art major, Lindsey Surin explained how she felt when she heard that the professor was retiring.
“When I found out Monte was retiring, I was very sad to hear he was leaving. I have had him as a professor for three years and was hoping to have him my last year here at Saint Xavier. I was happy to find out that he would be teaching one last class and I am fortunate to be in that class this current semester” said Surin.
The students whose photographs were featured in the exhibit were taught by Professor Gerlach at either Saint Xavier, Ithaca College, or Northern Illinois University. Photographs taken as early as 1985 were displayed alongside work from more recent years.
In an interview with the Xavierite, Gerlach explained that he was originally asked to feature his own work for his legacy exhibition. However, he decided that he would rather display the work of his students because he was retiring as a teacher, not as an artist.
Gerlach reached out to 75-80 of his former students and asked them to send him their best photographic work. He received a response from 60 of the students he contacted, who all gave him permission to reprint their photographs for the exhibition.
Gerlach said that he was pleased with the great diversity of the work displayed and called the exhibition a celebration of his students. One notable photograph featured is the photo of Prince that is on the cover of his 1986 album “Parade.”
A label next to each photograph displays the name of the piece and the year it was taken. There is also a number that can be matched to the name of the artist in a book displayed in the gallery. Visitors of the gallery can look up the number to learn more about each artist.
“The Legacy of Monte Gerlach: 40 Years of Mentoring Photography Students” will be displayed in the VAC until November 16. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm.
On Wednesday, October 21, an opening reception for the exhibition and a retirement celebration was held in the VAC. The gallery was packed with Gerlach’s current and former students, his family and friends, professors, and other members of the SXU community who came to celebrate his legacy.
“My favorite part of the event was seeing everyone walk in and flock to Monte. He was the star of the show. Watching him work so hard all of these years and seeing it all come together at an event like this was really moving. He’s so well loved and respected here. He deserved this so much. It was definitely a reminder that with him, you’re in the presence of greatness,” said senior graphic design major, Eleanore Menke.
The reception and celebration included a few personal, humorous touches, including cutouts of Monte Gerlach’s face that attendees held up to their faces. There were also rubber ducks placed around the gallery, a nod to Gerlach’s well-known aversion to ducks.
“Ducks and teddy bears fall into the list of things Monte hates. It goes back to when all of his students would turn in photographs of ducks for every assignment. It’s fun to tease him about it, for sure. Certainly everyone got a kick out of it last night” said Menke.
During the reception, Cathie Ruggie Saunders, an art professor and the director of the VAC gallery, gave a short speech about the photography exhibition. Nathan Peck, associate professor and department chair of the Art & Design Department then spoke about the impact that Gerlach had on his students and other professors.
Peck presented Gerlach with a guitar that was in a box with the phrase “rockin chair” written on it. In his speech, Peck explained that he labeled the guitar a “rockin chair” as a twist on the traditional retirement gift of a rocking chair. Gerlach said that he told Peck that he had once owned a guitar but he eventually sold it in order to raise money to buy photographic equipment.
Students, faculty and others in attendance agreed that viewing Gerlach’s exhibition and celebrating his retirement was a bittersweet experience. “Monte’s retirement celebration was bittersweet. I enjoyed seeing so many people in the VAC (Visual Art Center) gallery to celebrate Monte’s time as a fantastic teacher. It was also sad to think that after this semester he will be leaving us at the VAC. He has been a crucial part of our learning in the art department and I will miss him and his enthusiastic personality greatly,” said Surin.
Yasmeen Abdellatif
News Editor
About Post Author
