FINE ARTS
Art and art history professor Betsy Byers collecting audio from the glacier on Volcan Cayambe in Ecuador during the summer of 2019 while on a field research expedition led by a Gustavus science professor and including Gustavus student researchers.
S O L O A R T E X H I B I T I O N . C O L L A B O R AT I V E S C I E N C E .
Associate Professor of Art & Art History
Jol ’20 and filmmaker Evan Taylor ’12
having the financial support a grant can
Betsy Byers has been awarded one of the
also joined the excursion.
provide,” she says. “I’ve been wanting
inaugural $10,000 “Project Space” grants
The grant award has a simple
to work with a livestream component,
through the Kolman & Pryor Gallery that
imperative: support artists in doing
and I’ve also been really intrigued by
will support a solo multimedia exhibition
whatever work they haven’t done before.
installation-based work.”
inspired by glacial loss and climate change.
Byers’ proposal was for a solo, full-scale installation piece focusing on glacial melt.
painting of a glacier that viewers will
exhibition was conducted during a
She’s been working on projects focusing
experience alone, surrounded by blackout-
field expedition to Ecuador in June
on climate change and glacier loss for the
curtains and lighting. She also intends
2019. During the trip, Byers and Emily
past few years and has done collaborative
for a livestream or animated element, and
Dzieweczynski ’19 joined Gustavus
multimedia projects, but never a solo
sounds, smell, and touch for a full sensory
geography and environmental studies
multimedia project.
experience. “I really want a viewer to have
professor Jeff La Frenierre and team as
“I’m excited about having the
this memorable moment,” she says. “I’m
they collected data about glacial melt on
opportunity to learn some things I’ve
trying to create a sense of connection to
Volcan Cayambe. Student researcher Bri
been wanting to learn for a while and
these landscapes we’re losing.”
GUSTAVUS QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021
Research for this upcoming solo
Her plan is for a large-scale installation
23
