On Friday, Feb. 2, Keene State College’s Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery had its’ public opening for the 2018 spring season. Community members, students, faculty and staff filled the Thorne to celebrate the opening.
Ethan Platt / Senior Multimedia staff
The gallery had its’ 2018 Art Faculty Biennial Exhibition on display, as well as an exhibit called, “Unboxing Bob: A study of artist Robert S. Neuman through objects, images and ideas.”
The exhibit was made in honor of late KSC Art professor, Robert S. Neuman, who passed away in 2015.
As art enthusiasts entered the Thorne, they were met by the display of hundreds of paper cranes. Mia Morin, who works in the Thorne, was one of the employees who spent hours folding the paper birds.
“I probably folded close to about a hundred and five, and, for me, maybe it took about 4 or 5 hours collectively,” Morin said.
When asked the reasoning behind the creation of cranes, Morin said it was the symbolism with the origami.
“The cranes are an embodiment of all our hopes and dreams, and kind of just taking flight in the sense that everyone has their own individual personalities. It’s kind of like our mural of self expression.”
In addition to the paper cranes, arranged artistically going up the wall to the ceiling, the gallery had a number of pieces which required specific presentation.
Preparator of the Thorne, Tim Allen, helped set up the artwork for the exhibits.
“It took about 8 days to set up,” Allen explained. While most pieces could just be hung up, Allen explained that some required extra work.
“Mostly it was just hanging pictures on the walls, which is pretty straight forward. Some of the paper pieces I hung with magnets, and some panels that didn’t have hanging hardware on the back, I used what are called ‘L screws’ to sort of clip them in.”
Allen continued to explain the most difficult piece to display. “The most complicated things were the video illustrations because I had to build shelves that go up on the rafters.”
Although some of the set up for the gallery was challenging, Allen expressed that faculty were enjoyable to collaborate with. “It was great working with the faculty, they were all really cooperative and helpful. It was a fun show to put together.”
The 2018 Art Faculty Biennial Exhibition featured the artwork of thirteen different faculty members. First-year Spencer Thibodeau is currently undeclared but is looking to major in graphic design. Thibodeau explained that he attended the exhibit to “see the art,” as well as get some insight on his future professors. “I heard that some of the professors had some pieces in here and I feel like, to get to know the professor that is going to be teaching you art, you kind of got to see some of their art.”
Thorne Art Gallery will be displaying the 2018 Art Faculty Biennial Exhibition and Unboxing Bob: A study of Artist Robert S. Neuman through objects, images, and ideas from Feb. 3 until Apr. 1.
Erin McNemar can be contacted at emcnemar@kscequinox.com
