3rd Floor – Art Zone !

September 17, 2018

If you’ve stopped by the 3rd floor of College Library recently, you may have encountered the newly-installed Art Zone. The space in 3rd floor center is intended to be a leisure area as well as an exhibition space for student-created artwork and projects designed for library users to interact with. Established by the Art Club of UW-Madison, a registered student org, its members feel that “art inspires creativity and creates a unique atmosphere of tranquility, which is suitable for a library setting.” The goals of the project are: to provide an inviting, inspiring and creative space for students to work and study; to promote the art club (they’re seeking new members); and lastly, to share the love of art and art appreciation!

Among the works on display is a watercolor and Sharpie-marker painting, Colorful Elephant, by Marissa White. According to artist, I “created this piece of artwork because I was experimenting with bold colors using watercolor, a medium that is often more subdued. I used different techniques to achieve a splatter/drip style painting. At the moment I am using elephants as my subject matter because of the intricate detail they have, which I find fascinating to capture.” Another painting by Jenny Heck, an acrylic on canvas titled Making Mountains Out of Guacamole Hills, juxtaposes a humorous title with a gorgeous sense of color and a landscape filled with undulating motion. Last but not least is a sculpture constructed from dark annealed steel wire entitled Definitely Not Birch by Robby Spitz. One of the primary goals of the Art Club is to engage the community in the arts. The Art Zone at College Library is one step toward realizing this goal, as well as an opportunity to spread awareness about the organization while seeking collaborators for future projects. The art work in this installation of the Art Zone will be on display through December 19, 2018.

Making Mountains Out of Guacamole Hills by Jenny Heck and Robby Spitz’s wire sculpture Definitely Not Birch