By Misti DeHart/ reporter
Photos by Christina Feyisetan/The Collegian
Art students received a rare treat earlier this month when a university professor visited NW Campus’ Lakeview Gallery.
Ceramic artist and Midwestern State University professor Steve Hilton was preparing to install his three-week ceramic art exhibition, Austerity Revisited, and he encouraged TCC students to get in on the act.
Although Hilton did bring quite a few students from Wichita Falls along with him, he requested that the art departments from all five TCC campuses send their students over to help create the work that was to be displayed.
Winter Rusiloski, NW art associate professor, thought that this was not only a “cool” idea but a chance of a lifetime for many students.
“What’s so great about [Austerity Revisited] and [Hilton’s] approach is that the invitation was not only extended to the studio art classes for assistance but also to the art appreciation students,” she said. “This is a rare opportunity for some to really get their hands wet, to get dirty, and see the passion that goes into creating. It’s one thing to, you know, show them [pictures] and textbooks, but to actually make the art? It’s pretty cool.”
Receiving first his bachelor’s degree in geology from Missouri State two decades ago, it is clear by Hilton’s exhibition, curated by NW art professor Trish Igo, that the artist is inspired by nature. Hilton expresses that connection in his biography posted at www.stevehilton.com.
“As an artist, former science teacher and geologist, I have developed an appreciation for the anomalies in the many forms of life, rock and soil covering the Earth’s landscape,” he writes. “I am intrigued by the way plants, animals and weather influence the Earth’s surface by both erosional and depositional means. This fascination has become an integral part of my art.”
Austerity Revisited will be on display during NW school hours in the
Lakeview Gallery until Nov. 6, when the artist will have a noon reception and short lecture to close out the series. Students, faculty and all art and nature enthusiasts are encouraged to visit, Rusiloski said.
