Last week, roughly 30 students from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse created pieces of art in the Truman Lowe Center for the Arts (CFA). They were assisted by visiting artist Len Davis, whose exhibit “BRAINSTORMING” is currently hosted in the university gallery at the CFA.
The pieces the students created will be on display in the Student Union and were created in an artist-led workshop led by Davis; students were instructed by Davis on how to choose images and how to paste them on the artwork. Some students worked on the collage aspect of the pieces. Different kinds of images were used on these collages, such as pictures from nature magazines and newspapers.
Student Bethany Miller said, “It’s been fun to see everything coming out of different types of magazines. We also used catalogs for clothes and children’s chapter books [to add to the collage].”
The collage boards created by students would be used as a background for other students to draw faces on, creating the centerpiece for this art.
Ashley Furlan is one of the students drawing a face on one of the collage boards. “The [collage] will go around the person’s face to tell a story. One table is doing retro, one table is doing nature. We’re going to draw faces that match those,” said Furlan.
Students said they heard about the workshop led by Len Davis in a variety of ways. Chloe Kuester heard about it during ART 306: Drawing & Painting Media, taught by Professor Jennifer Williams. Kuester was working with other students on one of the college boards.
“I honestly love flipping through the magazines and finding all the little random things that work together; and working with other people because I don’t get to do that much. It’s fun to collaborate,” said Kuester.
Other students, like Kenzie Zielke and Jamie Benson, participated in the workshop after hearing about it during their art appreciation class. Attending and participating in the workshop was a way to get extra credit in the class, but that wasn’t the only reason they attended.
“I really like doing artistic things, but I don’t want to pay for a class in college to do art. Coming here for something that’s free, like why not?” said Zielke.
Benson said, “It’s not as much about the extra credit, it’s more like we wanted to do something fun like this, outside of class itself. You don’t really get to do much art in class.”
Students also talked about their feelings about the piece being put on display in the Student Union.
“As a senior, it’s my first time getting involved in something like this and it’s going to be something permanent going in the union. It’s like I’m leaving my mark in a way I never thought I could,” said Miller.
Kuester said, “It’s fun to be a part of something that’s going to be staying on campus and to see it in the union after I graduate. I will be able to point at it and I can say, ‘I did that.’”
Deborah-Eve Lombard, director of the university gallery, spoke about the process of bringing Davis to campus and how the art project got approved. Lombard had spoken to the UWL Student Association’s Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee (SUFAC), about bringing in a guest speaker.
Lombard said the committee agreed to use funds to bring in a speaker, but only if the speaker could lead a workshop with students to create a piece of artwork to be displayed in the Student Union. According to Lombard, the process took longer than expected but has now come to fruition.
The Racquet Press is currently unaware of when or where the art piece will be displayed in the Student Union.
Len Davis’ “BRAINSTORMING” is exhibited in the University Gallery until Sunday, Nov. 19.
