By Taylor Jensen/reporter
The NW Campus visual arts department wants its students to know their work is valued, so it keeps student artwork displayed throughout the campus.
Art is a form of expression that allows people to consider a range of possibilities in an open-ended way, said NW art associate professor Fred Spaulding.
“The study of art helps us to develop a direct interaction with the physical world as we learn to manipulate the various mediums of art,” he said.
Taking an art class can fill the fine arts section of the core curriculum needed for transfer students in any major and can also help students find their own expressive voice, Spaulding said.
TCC has a wide range of course choices from drawing and painting to sculpture and design on most campuses.
“This year, the [NW] program added bronze casting to the sculpture class,” he said.
As is the case on most campuses, Spaulding said NW also hosts visiting artists each semester and exhibitions of artworks by students and professionals.
“Faculty from local four-year institutions are invited to show their work and meet the students so they can learn about programs that they can transfer to,” he said.
John Hartley, another NW art associate professor, said four students in a recent NW competition were chosen on the basis of their artwork and then given a wall at the campus to display original art of their choice.
“We’re not talking about a four-year university. We’re talking about students at the beginning of their career, and it really is some knockout work,” he said.
Along with this exhibition in the Lakeview Gallery (WFAB 1135), art can be found virtually anywhere on NW Campus.
There are rotating works in an art space gallery in the NW Walsh Library and permanent student art spaces on the second floors of WTLO, WADM, WSTU and WCMS, said art professor Eduardo Aguilar.
“Our NW visual arts mission and goal is to foster creativity and be the advocate of the visual arts for our students and our Tarrant County NW community,” he said.
Hartley wants the artwork to visually pique students’ curiosity, put a smile on their faces and get them thinking on what they can do artistically.
The art appreciation course is the more technical side of art, but if a student decides to take a studio class, the benefit can be unknown talent, Hartley said.
“I don’t think people realize how much art is in their lives from the clothes they put on to the furniture they choose,” he said. “I believe that 99 percent of people know how to draw or paint and that a student can surprise themselves with what they are capable of.”
Spaulding agreed, saying studio courses provide a change of pace from the lecture format, and at the end of the course, students have tangible results of their work.
“Preparing students to express themselves effectively in material and to add their own individual voice to our culture is at the core of our instruction,” he said.
