Visual, dramatic arts faculty celebrate creativity

Visual, dramatic arts faculty celebrate creativity
at WORK @play

BY HEATHER MCLEAN WEIDERHOEFT
Special to the Rice News

Timing is everything — even in the art world. With recent renovations to the Rice Media Center that have created an art building that is both conducive to creativity and an excellent backdrop for displays, the Rice visual and dramatics art faculty has come together for its first faculty art exhibition in more than a decade.

Works from the department of visual & dramatic arts’ ”at work @play.”

”At WORK @play” premiered Nov. 9 to a full house, and Rice faculty, staff, students and guests from the Houston community had the chance to revel in an exhibit of 45 works that highlights the true artistic talent housed on the Rice University campus. All faculty members of the recently merged Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts are taking part in this exhibition, which runs through Dec. 10. Local art critic John Devine is serving as curator of the show.

While work and play often are thought of as opposing actions, Devine sees them as equivalents. ”Work and play, craft and imagination, are the twin poles of artistic endeavor,” Devine said in his exhibition statement. ”The Protestant work ethic, born out of Puritan rectitude, has persuaded us that they are antonyms, but as we can see in the work on display in this exhibit, the visual and dramatic arts resolve that false dichotomy. Play is the work of the imagination.”

With Devine’s talents and the drive of Karin Broker, chair of the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts, the exhibit includes paintings, drawings, sculpture, theater, film, photography and printmaking. ”It’s never hard to get artists to exhibit,” Broker said. ”Until now, we just didn’t have a place where we could be proud to exhibit our work. This space allows us to be kicky, innovative and very liquid, which is why it works for us for the show.”

The dramatic arts branch of the department is represented in ”at WORK @play” through costume and stage design. For costumes, not only is the finished piece on exhibit, but it also is accompanied by initial sketches, fabric samples and photos of the costume being worn on stage as part of the grouping so the visitor can experience the work from inception to completion.

Instead of simply running a film to include the works of documentary filmmaker Brian Huberman, Broker worked with Huberman to create a diorama of his work, ”Alligator Horses.” ”Viewing this piece is like looking into Brian’s brain, as it really shows how he develops a film,” Broker said.

In addition to Broker and Huberman, faculty from the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts who have work on display include Mequitta Ahuja, adjunct Core Fellow lecturer; Paul Hester, artist teacher; Darra Keeton, associate professor; Nickolas Kersulis, adjunct Core Fellow lecturer; Basilios Poulos, professor; Trish Rigdon, lecturer and director of the Rice Theatre Program; Matthew Schlief, lecturer and Rice Theatre production manager; George Smith, professor; John Sparagana, associate professor; Jeff Williams, adjunct Core Fellow lecturer; Paige Willson, lecturer in theatre; and Geoff Winningham, professor.

”At WORK @play” is just one example of the revitalization of the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts as more students are enrolling in their classes. ”Making art is a leap of faith,” Broker said. ”What we offer to art majors is the chance to have freedom to make what you want and make it meaningful. You have to be willing to be fearless, and more students are signing up every week as majors or double majors to have this type of experience.”