Senior visual arts majors presented their final work at the Senior Studio exhibition opening in the Robert H. and Blythe Bickel Edwards Center for Art and Dance last night. The exhibit is the culmination of the seniors’ artistic work at Bowdoin. Senior Studio is a semester course offered by Assistant Professor of Art Carrie Scanga in the spring for senior visual art majors—with the exception of occasional juniors who will be unable to schedule it during their senior spring semesters. The studio gives advanced art students the opportunity to work on substantial final projects in a collaborative environment.
Senior Studio is based in one of the larger rooms in Edwards. Students have their own sectioned off space to work in, but also benefit from being surrounded by the other visual arts majors in the class.
“Art is very independent in some ways, but one of the benefits of having other students and other artists around is that we can critique each other’s work and get feedback,” said Anna Reyes, a senior in the class. “We are able to wander around and see what other people are working on and pick up on how they view things differently and practices. Some people do multiple iterations of one idea, whereas others choose to explore different ideas.”
Senior Studio enables visual arts majors accustomed to specializing in one area of art to come together and experiment with new artistic mediums.
“It’s inspirational to be around so many different people working in different mediums.” said Sarah Haimes ’15. “It has motivated me to incorporate other mediums. I incorporated photography, painting and sculpture into my final pieces, which I never thought I would do. It was really helpful to have the opportunity to run ideas by people who had experiences with different mediums.”
There are also critiques throughout the semester by visual arts faculty and outside artists; artists also come in to speak to students about continuing with careers in art. The freedom and flexibility of the studio lets students develop the projects according to their own artistic style. While some students use Senior Studio to experiment with new mediums, other students use it to continue past projects.
“I got the idea of continuing on with one idea in terms of the material used from one of my sculpture classes last semester. I was working on a large, crocheted fabric sculpture. I’ve always loved fiber and fabrics and think that’s a fruitful material to work with,” said Reyes. “Last semester, that was my final project and I wanted more time to work on it. I had an idea of the materials I wanted to use and the process I wanted to explore based on last semester’s work.”
Haimes decided to combine new mediums for her final project. Although primarily a photographer, she was able to experiment in the studio.
“My final project is these three dimensional photo collages, and I ended up going into the woodshop, which I had never done before. It was a nice way to challenge myself before I graduate,” said Haimes.
All the students in Senior Studio have dedicated a significant amount of their time at Bowdoin to their art. The exhibit showcases their final projects and dedication to their work. Scanga described the preparation for the exhibit as a collaborative process.
“Putting together a group show requires teamwork, patience and a willingness to collaborate even when your creative vision is at stake. The seniors pulled together to lay out the exhibition, supported each other in the installation process, and negotiated the design of posters and publicity materials,” she said.
Both Scanga and the artists view the Senior Studio exhibition as a final opportunity to showcase their work in front of the Bowdoin community.
“I expect that viewers will enjoy considering the wide range of media and ideas present in this exhibition,” said Scanga. “I’m thrilled for the seniors. They’ve worked hard this semester, and the reception on Thursday is their opportunity to see how the work is received by their community.”
“I think the turnout for the Senior Show is usually pretty good, which is gratifying because professors, staff and students want to see our work,” said Reyes. “I enjoy making art and love doing it for myself. I hope other people enjoy my work, but it’s also about having that sense of accomplishment and knowing I made something that really matters to me.”