Today is the last chance to view the annual Faculty Art Exhibit, which features work from numerous professors from the Fine Arts Department.

A reception was held on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at the Geoffrey Yeh Art Gallery in Sun Yat Sen Hall to commemorate the exhibit.
The displays included jewelry, sculptures, collages and portraits.
Senior Chris Still said that he enjoyed the faculty art because it is a nice change of pace for Sun Yat Sen and gives students a chance to review their professors work.

Senior Sophia Chan said that she thinks that the Faculty Art Exhibit motivated students.

“It is inspiring to see that professors push themselves [to be creative] just as hard as they push their students,” she said.

Fine Arts Professor Heather Dunn said that she believes the exhibit is an opportunity for students to look at what their professors do in their spare time when they are not teaching.
Junior Katie Traber said that she was curious to see what the professors created.

“It is interesting to see how they do what they teach,” she said.
Examining the faculty art, she said, helps students improve their own because the exhibit allows students to examine their own work comparatively to their professors and try to apply their professors’ techniques to their own.

Another student, junior Amy Furman said that she would like to see more exhibits like this because it provides a more intimate connection between the student and the professor.
Student Deepthi Borugadda said that the samples of work reflect the University.

“No two works are the same, just like the professors and students here [at St. John’s],” she said.

She added that she thinks the diversity in the faculty’s work is beneficial for art students because it will allow them to explore different styles of art.

She said that she feels “it makes the education more comprehensive.”

Ross Barbera, the curator of the exhibit and a Fine Arts professor, stated that the exhibit allows students to ask themselves questions about their own artwork and interpret what the professors are trying to achieve with their own art.

Louis DiGena, chair of the Fine Arts department, said that he thinks the exhibit helped increase dialogue among students and professors.

He explained that faculty gets questions about their work during receptions or in class and that it allows students to examine their professors’ work and guide them in their search for thesis advisors.

“It gives students a taste of what the faculty it involved in,” he said.

Many students said that they believe the exhibit is beneficial for the University, but some students said that they do not think the exhibits at Sun Yat Sen receive enough attention.

Still commented, “Most students wouldn’t know about this unless they were part of the Fine Arts Department.”

Sophomore Caterina Manzolillo said that she heard about the exhibit in an art class and came at the request of her professor.

“I didn’t even know we had an art gallery,” Manzolillo said.
“I would have never known if it weren’t for my professor.”

The gallery director, Parvez Mohsin, said that the University has done a great deal to help make the gallery into a world-class exhibition space.

To increase student awareness both Mohsin and Barbera suggest students who are aware of the gallery’s events take initiative and share what they know with other people who may be interested.

In addition, notices are posted on the University Web site, St. John’s Central, on a regular basis.