The NAU Art Museum is using its permanent collection and a guest curator program to inspire new forms of creativity.
The guest curator program will open its first show Feb. 16 with “Arts & Words: Writing in the Art Gallery.” Guest curator Allen Woodman, professor of English, and his graduate fiction workshop students will demonstrate their creative responses to displayed art.
“This is a great opportunity for faculty and students to engage with our art collection,” said Michael Vincent, dean of the College of Arts and Letters. “They can use their creativity to present art in a different way, according to their discipline.”
The students participating in the exhibit include David Arnold, Sara Austin, Jeremy Broyles, Sue Ferguson,Patty Gibbs, John Picker, Daniel Pinney, Sacha Siskonen, Joshua Spiegel, Matthew Spivey and C. Joe Willis. Their work will be published in a booklet funded by the College of Arts and Letters Dean’s Fund for Excellence.
Visitors to the “Arts & Words” show are invited to submit a creative response to the artwork.
“Our hope is that visitors see there are several ways to approach art,” said Jason Lanegan, director of the NAU Art Museum. “There isn’t one given way, governed by some set of rules.”
The “Arts & Words” exhibit will run through April 7 with a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Feb. 23 at the NAU Art Museum.
Alexandra Carpino, associate professor in the Department of Humanities, Arts and Religion, will facilitate the next guest curator exhibit with her art history senior capstone class. Opening April 20, the exhibit “Hello, my name is…” will feature unknown artists from the permanent collection.
Vincent sees historians, philosophers and musicians being attracted to this program. There will be a call for future proposals at the end of the semester.
The NAU Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. The museum also features a store with work from local artists. For information, call (928) 523-3471.