SGA restoring student art initiative to campus

The Blank Space Project, created to showcase Comet's creativity in empty university spaces, once again accepting student submissions for the spring

Walking past the Student Union Market to grab a bite to eat, you might’ve noticed the “Blank Space Project” – a 14’ x 6’ art display. While it’s been a permanent fixture for three years, the initiative is in the process of being revived with new and more diverse forms of artwork.

The “Blank Space Project” was created as a Student Government initiative led by Vice President at the time Alexander Holcomb and later became collaborative with the Student Union once it was chosen as the gallery’s venue. To get the first cycle of the “Blank Space Project” up and running, he worked with the Director of the Student Union, Dan Goodwin, to plan how they’d implement the gallery. Goodwin said they ultimately decided to host a pop-up art show in the SU in Spring 2019, where interested students were invited to display their art. Members of the UTD community who stopped by were allowed to vote on their favorite pieces. The artworks that received the most votes are the ones you see in the gallery today.

“It was and still is a priority for us to reflect the culture and vibrancy of our campus to really reflect our student body,” Goodwin said. “We want to fill up these – no pun intended – blank spaces in the building with what our campus is and where it’s going. And the Blank Space Initiative was great for that – its goal was the same as our goal.”

Goodwin said Holcomb visualized the gallery as a recurring event, refreshed with new art annually for stu - dents to enjoy. With the success of the pop-up art show, they were optimistic about renewing the gallery in Spring 2020 of the following year – but then the pandemic hit. All student organizations, including Student Government, ceased operations as students left campus. Holcomb graduated, new SG membership entered and the project was lost in the shuffle. That is, until IPE sophomore and Student Affairs Chair Margaret Moore reignited the and she was like ‘Oh! Here’s a previous project that was trying to do that. What if we brought that back?’”

Since the spirit of the Blank Space Project aligned perfectly with the committee’s agenda, Moore reached out to Goodwin about renewing the gallery. After brainstorming last fall, they agreed that they’d start up the gallery once again in Spring 2022 with a competition to reinvigorate students’ interest and gather submissions, as well

“In terms of the current art on campus, we know we want to swap it out. That will evolve,” Moore said. “That’s something that we’re waiting for –see how submissions are. And we’re reaching out to see if [current artists] want [their art] back or if they want to keep them on campus. It’s potentially something where we could reach out to other buildings and say, ‘Hey, this was in the SU. You want it over here now?’ You know, kind of move it