| September, 18, 2019 | Victor Allison | reporter |
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Construction delays put wrench in SE’s plans to launch an art show.
Students who anticipated a sophisticated, cultural experience with fine art at SE Campus will now have to wait.
The Faculty Art Exhibition at SE, originally scheduled to debut in August, has been canceled for Fall 2019.
“Sorry, but the Faculty Art Exhibition at Southeast has been postponed until the beginning of Spring 2020 semester, due to the upcoming remodeling of Art Corridor II,” SE art instructor Sarah Covington said through email.
According to SE fine arts department chair Brandy Niccolai-Belfi, the building contractors “were going to begin construction on our Art Gallery before the start of the semester, however, they have yet to begin.”
The art gallery was expected to house the drawings, paintings, video and ceramics of the featured SE artists. To build the gallery, work crews are planned to enclose a recessed section at the far end of Art Corridor II, said Covington.
“They’re going to turn that whole space into a gallery,” she said. “So they’re going to enclose it.”
The finished product is planned to be fitted with glass doors. But for now, it’s an empty alcove that students have been using as a resting station while they wait for class.
Few details were available as to why construction delays occurred. But Niccolai-Belfi confirmed that she expects the exhibition to be up and running by spring.
SE art instructor Roya Mansourkhani, who’s Islamic-themed artwork is expected to be featured in the spring exhibition, said she’s uncertain of what caused the delay.
“I don’t know why it happens, I like to see everything on schedule,” she said. “Usually, they’re very on time. I don’t know what’s happened. But I’m pretty sure there is a good reason.”
According to Covington, the gallery, which is the size of a small classroom, will not be large enough to fit all of the faculty’s artwork.
Some pieces will have to extend into the hallways of Art Corridor II, where previous displays have made debuts, like a spatial display featuring 75 white boxes from artist Corey Kent Johnson in 2014.
A walk down Art Corridor II makes it apparent the space was designed to be a viewing destination. In the hallways, walls coated in white atmospheric paint form a neutral backdrop. Track lighting from the ceiling drapes over impressionistic works that line the corridor walls. The design is a nod to the “white cubicle concept” made popular by the MOMA.
Covington expressed small frustration over the delay.
“I was a bit disappointed because I was ready to go,” she said.
However, she said students can still enjoy other events sponsored by the department.
“Come to our art reception,” she said. “Ask questions. Find out what the faculty or artists are thinking when they make their work.”
