Other Stories – CCDC gets good start – Gay marriage in D.C.
UDC artists brighten the halls of the USGS
BY MINDY HILL
The hall surrounding the USGS were considerably brighter this Black History Month. Thanks to art majors whose work illustrated this year’s theme, History of Black Economic Empowerment. Hortense Brent’s contribution was inspired by her visual thinking class assignment, which focused on discarded items to throw away. She picked up lottery tickets and turned them into a paper mache piggy bank, titling the piece, Oinks.
“I am actually an artist as well and a member of the fine arts committee here at USGS, I love the vibrancy of the work here is just very alive, lots of energy, wonderful movement in many pieces”, said Sarah Gerald. “It’s not a start and stop project the time goes in stages,” Hortense said of her Oinks pieces.
 |
|
This piece by Jessica White titled "Chaos and Change," is one of many produced by the USGS. |
Along with exceptional artwork artists had a chance to reflect on what Black History means to them. Artist Melvin Nesbitt stated, “Black History insures that the contributions of African Americans are never lost in the telling and/or re-telling of American History. Personally, it has always been a time of reflection. I am grateful to live in a culturally diverse America full of opportunity and promise, which would not have been possible without the sacrifices of those brave men and women of the past. The recognition of Black History fills me with pride, gratitude and hope.” The artwork showcased wooden sculptures, clay sculptures, paintings, and photojournalism works which student artist of UDC crafted. John Szemraj, Diversity manager for USGS said “I like the variety of the mediums that have been presented to, things from paper mache, oil sculptures, wood sculptures in particular I really like the clay sculpture too. It’s nice to see youth participating and taking their creative energy making it into something everyone can enjoy.”
Most of the employees that had the opportunity to walk the vibrant halls admired the ”fantastic, exceptional pieces of art,” stated Szemraj as he began presenting artist awards and pins to the artist of UDC. The pin represents survey markers and a reminder of USGS whose mission is “to provide reliable scientific information to preserve our earth. Art Program Director Daniel Venne oversaw the exhibition. “It is great to be back at USGS, and since they are aware of the talent of our students, the Black History showcase reveals more great work of our students, and I am thankful to the students that assist with the set up for the showcase”. Artist Gerald Smith’s painted his grandmother who he said embodied empowerment. “She was 96, although when I painted her looked a whole lot younger than she was, and it was done just to remember her.”
Diversity too was a vital element in the work, which showcased the lives of people from Mexico to Iraq. Susan Sudebi’s painting took her about a month. She said, it “Shows my culture, my country between Iran and Iraq and people who don’t have a place to live and I wanted to represent them.” Some paintings took significantly longer months due to the intriqute details they contained. Such was the case with artist Jessica White whose piece it titled Chaos and Change. She said “it took about four months with lots of critiquing in the process of getting composition together for painting, very inspirational because of the title Chaos and Change and instead of images to show chaos and depict change wanted to use color and tried to evoke that through the painting. Not only did the artist receive recognition and reward for their art showcase the memory of their works of art, which brightened the halls of USGS, will shine forever through their works.
Copyright © 2010 Freevoice Online. All Right Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
