The student-master relationship is as old as time, and it’s the most efficient way to learn. Masters can share and give of themselves all day, every day, and still not reveal all their expertise. But what the master produces is often the greatest example of what his or her students can be capable of with careful, diligent practice.
Allan Hancock College’s Ann Foxworthy Gallery shares fine art throughout the school year; open now is the fine arts faculty art show, which aptly displays the skills that teachers at the college are sharing with students.
“Our work is about preparing our students to go on to university, and our responsibility to them is pretty significant,” said Marti Fast, Hancock’s art gallery director and a drawing instructor. “And much of the proof of what we do—that we’re all working artists and growing ourselves and capable of being mentors and setting a high bar for our students—we need to do that for ourselves as well.”
The fine arts faculty art show does more than model what successful artists do; it also celebrates teaching various forms of art, as each piece can certainly be learned from. Each instructor, with his or her own unique style, explores painting, drawing, photography, design, sculpture, ceramics, and digital art.
“All of us are aware of the value of human artistic expression and these ideas that find their way either into dance, music, performance, or visual art—we share that medium of a universal language,” Fast said. “Even if students aren’t going on to a university, that is a universal connection, so I am glad we can put all these fine arts teachers together in one room and have a voice.”
Getting a collection of visual media from myriad different artists to flow together into one cohesive show is a challenge, but one Fast is very equipped for. She has been directing and organizing art galleries for years and has taken many steps over the years to make the exhibits she presents there have their own identities.
“I listen to the work,” she said. “I usually set everything out, lay it against the walls, and it’s almost like the different pieces have a conversation.”
Fast explained that she actually spends more time designing shows than hanging them. Making a show flow correctly is the goal; hanging the work is just a matter of process.
“Listening and finding the flow of the show is the creative part,” she said. “That’s always fun because my job is really always as creative as theirs. I’m just pulling the work together into a beautiful, cohesive exhibit.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne is going to clean out his home. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 3, 2014.