November 23, 2009
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EAST ACC
Students and instructors display artwork in East Austin Studio Tour
Volume 12, Issue 5
Brock Caron • Staff Photographer
ACC ART – Austinite contemplates the art
made by Leeza Henderson and several artists, Saturday Nov. 14, at this year’s East Austin Art Tour. The pots were made in Costa Rica when Henderson was studying abroad.
Sarah Vasquez Staff Writer
Four groups of ACC artist showed their work at the eighth East Austin Studio Tours (EAST) at Graphic Glass Studios on East 5th street. The tour has extended from a two day affair into a nine day, two weekend event. Different art mediums, such as, ceramics, paintings, sculpture, and jewelry fabrication were featured within the tight range of studios in East Austin. Attendees were able to enjoy art supply discounts, bike in movies, and artist talks hosted by various art-loving businesses and studios. Art Department Chair Gary Webernick and Art Studios and Exhibition Specialist, Julie Isaacson, helped organize the show by collecting artwork from the previous Steamroller Madness, Constitution Day exhibits and art created by groups of ACC students who traveled to Italy and Costa Rica. During the trip to Costa Rica, students built a kiln for the locals in the small village of Santa Elena. Using the kiln, that took approximately two days to build, the artists used donated local clay to create pre-Columbian inspired tiles. Unfortunately, a lot of the tiles never made the trip back to Austin. “The clay was very wet and it rained 50 percent of each day,” Mary Loren-Sinibaldi said. “It rained a lot. We couldn’t get the clay to dry. A lot of it dried unevenly. Mine was just the perfect thickness and it dried evenly.” Leeza Henderson was another ACC student to partake in the Costa Rica trip to create the artwork featured in the Tour. During the first weekend of EAST, she got to hang out with the other participating
Sarah Vasquez • Staff Photographer
NUMBER FIVE — ACC students’ and instructors’ art is displayed at Graphic Glass Studios at the eighth annual East Austin Art Tour. students and faculty, as well as interact with the visitors about her artwork. “Apparently, there was like 200 people walking in and out. It turned out really well,” said Henderson. Art student, Austin DeCaulp, had never had any of his art displayed until this years EAST. “I did this print and one of my teachers kind of liked it, and asked me to put it in the show,” said DeCaulp of his print “The Goal of Science the Aim of Religion.” “This is honestly my first year to do art,” said DeCaulp. “It lets me express a lot of ideas that would take a lot of time to say in words.”
Sarah Vasquez • Staff Photographer
CONTROVERSIAL ART — Woodcut print titled “Bible Story 7” is
displayed at the Graphic Glass Studio. ACC’s art instructor Ward Walker created the piece.
Art Dept. lobbies for more space CSPS has been busy, Dept. head petitions for more space Christopher A. Smith Campus Life Editor
A small exhibition space is being built in the remodeled gym at Rio Grande Campus, but Art Department Chair Gary Webernick said the department still needs a larger gallery. Webernick and the ACC Art Department are once again petitioning the ACC administration for more gallery space in which to display student and faculty art. Even with the addition of the 450 square foot space, Webernick said ACC will still have less gallery space per student than most other community colleges in Texas. The exhibition space, smaller than the average classroom at Rio Grande Campus, will only be large enough for a small one person show said Webernick, and it will not be able to accommodate the annual student and faculty shows. ACC currently does not have a gallery, and the Art Department is forced to display art in the HBC lobby, campus hallways and libraries, or to lease off-campus gallery space. Webernick is trying to get the department’s request for a gallery included in the ACC Master Plan. “When the school shifted into their master planning, we thought that perhaps we would be included in that process, and we still haven’t been,” Webernick said. “So there is a push to get the gallery exhibition space on the Master Plan.” Webernick, who was hired as a full-time instructor at ACC in 1992, remembers petitioning for gallery space since he first arrived. “We proposed a new exhibition
space for Phase 2 of Riverside Campus in 1992. We have put together a proposal every year since, without any success,” Webernick said. Because of the lack of a gallery, the department has been forced to look off campus for space to host the large annual student and faculty shows. Art shows have been held at various galleries around Austin, but because of the large number of pieces to display, it is often difficult to find a gallery willing to lease out the necessary space according to Webernick. When he was hired, Webernick said it was part of his job description to be in charge of the art department’s exhibits. “I was already aware that we didn’t have a gallery of our own, so we were acquiring spaces, leasing spaces or getting people to donate spaces,” said Webernick. The result was that the annual student and faculty shows were held at various locations around Austin. Webernick is petitioning to get a permanent exhibition space of at least two to three thousand square feet built for the department. If that is not possible, Webernick would at least want to lease a space yearly that would be big enough to host the student and faculty art shows. Without a permanent space, in which to display their work, Webernick says art students at ACC are missing out on part of the educational experience. “It is an educational component that actually completes the cycle of the production of making art. After it is made, every artist wants to show that art. And by not having a gallery space that actually allows the students to show continually, it doesn’t allow them to complete that process,” said Webernick. “Making the work is one thing that we teach,” ACC Art Studios
it’s not slowing down
Gallery Space
Gallery space compared to student population Student Pop. (Aprox.) 40,000
College Name Austin Community College Austin, TX
Square Footage 450 sq.ft.
San Antonio College San Antonio, TX
32000 sq ft
38000
South Texas College McAllen, TX
800 sq. ft.
25000
Brookhaven College Dallas, TX
1600 sq. ft.
11500
Delmar College, Coprus Christi, TX
1750 sq. ft.
10000
Shiphrah Meditz
Information provided by Art Department’s survey of community college galleries.
and Exhibit Coordinator Brent Baggett said. Learning to frame, and documenting, are skills that aspiring artists “need to make it in the art world,” said Baggett, but the current exhibit spaces on campus do not provide students with a professional area in which to accomplish that. “It’s a level of professionalism that is most important. To let students see work that other students are doing, to be given a chance to exhibit their work in what would be considered a professional space,” said Baggett. In an e-mail, Media Relations Coordinator for ACC Alexis Patterson said, “It’s no secret that with enrollments at a record high, space at the college is at a premium. The college must take into consideration all requests for space and weigh such requests against what is available, with priority given to educational and instructional needs.”
New Org. plans a full semester of new events for ACC’S politicly minded students
But, she added that, “this is actually a good time for departments to put in requests for future facility needs, because the college is embarking on an extensive campus master planning process.” Art student Valerie Hope was surprised when she found out that ACC does not have a gallery, noting, “ACC is such a big [school]. I was kind of surprised that they didn’t have anything anywhere.” Hope said that being able to display work created in class was “part of the educational experience.” “They have everything else at the school; why don’t they have a gallery?” said Hope. “I just feel like we are behind,” said Baggett. “It is not that we are asking for something that is over the top or unusual, it’s a standard for most schools to have that, and we would just like to have that standard met.”
Staff Writer
The Center for Student Political Studies (CSPS), the new student volunteer branch of the Center for Public Policy & Political Studies (CPPPS), is up and running. This organization will focus on public policy issues, and has several politically themed events on the agenda. CSPS was conceptualized in September when the Student Government Association’s Parliamentarian, Avy Gonzalez, talked with Director of CPPPS Peck Young about creating a student organization focused on public policy. “We’re very, very excited about it (CSPS). They have a great deal of potential. We’re looking forward to working with them,” said Young. CSPS has a busy semester coming up. “Our mission is to provide student access to forums and workshops, to plan major political events, lobby legislators, and be involved in political campaigns and internships,” Gonzalez said. The CSPS has already taken part in a couple of events in the month since it began. “We’ve had breakfast with the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Jim Pitts. On Nov. 14, a workshop
on writing effective resumes and dealing with the government on both state and national levels, was held at the Capitol,” Gonazalez said. CSPS will be attending The Center for Politics and Governance’s Perspectives Series on Nov. 20 at the Bass Lecture Hall. The event will feature Mayor Bill White of Houston. “I’m really excited to have this opportunity to go to forums and have the ability to meet new people who have worked with politicians and know the ins and outs of how it [politics] works,” said CSPS Secretary, Paul Theobold. ACC History Professor and CSPS member, David Lauderback said “This is a remarkable group of very energetic students who are going to make a difference. They are optimistic and ambitious.” In 2010 CSPS will attend a health care forum event at the Capitol that will feature a mock congressional joint committee composed of real-life doctors, nurses, and other medical personal. They are also hosting “How to Fix the Economy,” an interactive student event at Eastview in March. “There are plenty of opportunities and exposure to the political process,” said Gonzalez. “The networking opportunities for people who want a career in politics are amazing.”