Eastern Michigan University’s Art Department Gallery Program is hosting the New Faculty Show Oct. 5-29 in the Ford Hall Gallery.
The gallery showcases the work of new full-time faculty for the Art Department including: Corrie Baldauf (foundations), Chris Riley (digital media), Dustin London (drawing) and Cam McComb (art education).
The gallery is free to the public and is open Monday and Thursday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
“One of the great things about having the faculty show is that the students work so closely with these people who are trying to teach them about the art world and now they [the students] get to see what all those lessons go into,” said Helen Vachon, a senior at EMU majoring in fine arts and also an intern of Gregory Tom who runs the art galleries.
The exhibits being featured in the gallery vary from digital media run on a projector, to physical objects in the center of the room, to architectural prints and photographs.
Dr. Cam McComb, who is the Assistant Professor of Visual Arts Education and apart of her second year at EMU has two showcases in the gallery.
The first is a series of photographs titled, “Educational [Ass]essment Part I: Landscape - Exploring the Baseline.”
“As a career educator I have always been interested in understanding and challenging perceptions of education. It was when I discovered this old school desk, however, that a vision of the educational landscape came into focus. I had a sense that this desk wanted to travel,” said Dr. McComb.
Upon closer look at the series of photographs featuring the desk, one can notice a repeating theme through and also a series of data text at the bottom of each photograph. Each of these added details has a very powerful purpose for the world of education.
“Throughout the series the desk represented the student, the critic, and even the "institution" of education… this cryptic data reveals as much about the meaning of the photograph as state testing data reveals about the educational potential of each child,” Dr. McComb continued.
A second showcase in the gallery done by Dr. McComb displays the physical desk used in the photography series. This piece is titled “Standing on Legislation.” The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 supports the legs of the desks.
“By placing the deck atop this legislation, and its re-authorization, I hope to generate conversation around the relationship between education and legislation. This conversation is critical as the House and Senate work to combine legislation passed this past July,” said Dr. McComb.
Another faculty member who has multiple pieces in the New Faculty Show is Dustin London who joined EMU’s art department this semester as Assistant Professor of Drawing.
One of his pieces is titled "Endgame," Oil on Canvas, 2013. According to London, the array of colorful dots and lines depicts “racquetball as an analogy for the construction of pictorial space.”
“Students want to be able to come and show support for their professors; that way it feels like you’re on a team while trying to learn,” said Vachon.
It is expected that many family and friends, as well as students of the featured faculty will come and show their support throughout the gallery’s opening.
