Keene State students visited the Thorne Art Gallery to check out the Opening Reception that kicks off the academic year. On Thursday, Sept. 17, many students and community members came through the Thorne Gallery and viewed the vast works of art.
This Opening Reception displayed works that art students have been making since the beginning of the academic year. Walls were lined with paintings and drawings, as well as some more sculpture-based projects mixed in.
As folks moved through the opening room, they were met by senior studio art major Alexis Christie, who was passing out shirts created by graphic design students. Christie spoke on what it means to both be a part of the reception and be involved with the Thorne Gallery.
“I have a fellowship here this year, so I got to really get involved in working on it, picking things up, working with the artists and it’s just so cool to get to see it up and everyone enjoy it,” said Christie.
One of the rooms in the gallery was lined with many artworks that were considered “rubs.” Junior Connor Pederson made one of these pieces and described it as “an imprint of a surface onto paper.” Pederson talked about his own piece and the creation of drawing a sewer grate using six different tree barks.
“Those are all different tree barks from trees all around campus. And then I had to do something for the center and I was looking at it like, ‘I don’t want to do another tree because it has to be a really important tree,’” Pederson said. “I walked over to a sewer, the actual manhole, and thought that’s a statement right there.”
Pederson also talked about what the rest of the year might look like for the Thorne Gallery after this Opening Reception. “Now that we’re getting into the semester, we have more time, this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Pederson.
Christie also spoke about what the Thorne Gallery has to offer for students who may not have seen it before. “It’s definitely worth checking out, even just doing a quick walkthrough when you have a minute away from class. We have a new show every semester and it’s always like that,” said Christie.
New KSC students used this opportunity to come view what the Thorne Gallery opened up with. First-year student Nancy Lou spoke on how she felt about viewing the gallery for the first time, saying, “It’s really impressive to see the art that students are doing.”
The Thorne Art Gallery is open Tue-Sat from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The works that are currently up for the opening reception will be up until the end of the semester.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
jenscoe@kscequinox.com
