The most recent exhibit at MCCC’s Art Gallery was titled “MCCC Visual Arts Faculty Exhibit.” It offered a variety of pieces in various mediums from sculpture to photography. Artwork came from full and part-time faculty and all pieces were new and relevant, having been made within the last two years.
Two of the most prominent pieces featured in the exhibit were called Tick and Capitol Reef National Park.
Tick, takes up an entire wall of the gallery and includes numerous different hung clocks. This “found objects” sculpture was created by Emily Buchalski, an Adjunct Professor in the Visual Arts department since fall 2018.
Buchalski says a found objects sculpture is “an item that you find and you work with, rather than constructing something.”
Alice K. Thompson has been the Gallery Director for the past 13 months. She picks out the pieces that she says she feels will “work together” the best.
When individuals bring in pieces, Thompson is the one who selects which ones are featured in each exhibit. She then hangs the pieces herself.
Another piece featured in the faculty exhibit was called Capitol Reef National Park. Ryann Casey, an adjunct instructor in Art History and Photography who has been at Mercer since 2014, had a photograph in the exhibit. She explains that her photograph was part of her series Loss Event which she created as a way to cope with the death of her best friend. The idea behind the piece, she says, is to let people know that if they lose a loved one, they do not have to grieve alone.
A student volunteer who works at the Gallery, Aditya Nandigama, says his favorite piece in this exhibit is a painting called St. Francis, by Fine Arts Professor Kyle Stevenson.
The Gallery itself is a quiet space for students to take a break from studies. The overhead lighting, the soft classical music, and the shape of the space with its separate sections for different installations creates opportunities for visitors to experience the pieces at their own pace.
Gallery exhibits usually are up for about a month and there is a reception at the start of each new exhibit that is open to the public. Usually the artists are at the reception and attendees can meet and talk with them. The next exhibit will be “Transient Brevity” and will run from October 28 to December 19 with the reception on November 6.
There is a gallery on each campus. The one located at the West Windsor Campus is on the second floor of the Communications building. It is open Monday-Thursday from 11am to 3pm and Wednesdays from 11am to 7pm. The Gallery is free to all attendees.
