Arts Archives - ��

Studio Arts Braces for AI Revolution

Mary Wymer — Wed, 07 May 2025 19:38:59 +0000

AI is just the latest in a line of innovations that have affected studio arts.

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Annual Student Art Exhibit Showcases Creativity of Budding Masters at Work

phos-beacon — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 22:04:37 +0000

If art, as Pablo Picasso once observed, “is the elimination of the unnecessary,” the recent Annual Juried Student Exhibition in the Kristen Michelle Mason Art Gallery at �� was an essential opportunity for the college’s creatives to showcase how all their brushwork, moulding, welding, carving, casting, and assemblage brilliantly produced what Picasso so eloquently defined.

The March 30 exhibit featured painting, drawing, and sculpture from 44 students from all classifications and across majors who have taken �� art courses.

“This year’s Annual Student Exhibition shows a dedication to craftsmanship, and concept,” said Russell Bellamy, professor of art and department chair at ��. “The variety of media and processes indicates a high level of independent research and experimentation. We are excited about the consistent ability to incorporate narrative, philosophical ideas and personal content. Everyone involved should be extremely proud of their accomplishments.”

This year’s exhibition was judged by Michael Knapp, a Tampa-based painter, known for use of a colorful palette in works that pulse with fun.

Awardees included:

Honorable mentions
Marcus Giglio — “Spring in 2-point perspective”
Pierre Bernard — “Scorched”
Chiara Ferrante — Untitled (Wooden Wheel)
Anna Roth — “Rebirth”
Maxine Collazo — “Don’t Mind the track”

Best 2-D
Chiara Ferrante —”Untitled (Planes and Tomato)”

Best 3-D
Jude Heinen — “Untitled (Hand)”

Best of Show
Camille McKoy — “Fallen”

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Imaginations Go Pop in Full Color at ‘Pop Goes the Easel’ Exhibition

phos-beacon — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:43:10 +0000

�� students experience the “Pop Goes the Easel” exhibition at the Mason Art Gallery.

By Gabrielle Russon

Michael Knapp wants his art to say something.

“Good art should tell a story,” Knapp said. “There should be something that you get out of it rather than just looking at it and saying, ‘It’s pretty.’”

Knapp’s frustrations with authority figures and society’s overreliance on technology emerge as a few of the themes in his new exhibit that recently opened at ��. Knapp’s “Pop Goes the Easel” show is on display at the Kristin Michelle Mason Art Gallery through March 10.

Even if Knapp wants you to think a little bit deeper, his art feels fun with bright, playful colors and a feeling of chaos.

�� studio arts professor Russell Bellamy and the artist Michael Knapp.

“While these works appear fun and joyful, there is an underlying message of caution and danger,” said Dustin Boise, a �� associate studio art professor who is the gallery’s director. “Michael’s work is composed in a manner that forces the viewer to think about their personal experiences with similar items and or experiences leading one to develop meaning.”

For this exhibit, Knapp painted the 23 pieces during his day job where he works as the resident artist at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry. Five days a week, Knapp takes his post in the museum. He paints there to inspire children and shows there’s plenty more than just STEM (science, technology, engineering and math.) Don’t forget STEAM too. Knapp says proudly he puts the “A” in STEAM for art.

Knapp has been an artist for most of his life. It’s what he does. It’s who he is, he says.

“If you’re an artist, you’re an artist. I can’t do anything else,” Knapp said. “It would just bore me to tears or I would fail. I am an artist. That’s just what I am. And I’ve loved it ever since I was a very young child.”

Knapp, who grew up outside Tampa, went straight to work at a supermarket chain’s advertising department and then would eventually paint signs which taught him how to paint with sharp edges.

“Commercial imagery, commercial lettering …. It was all advertising, marketing, all that stuff was drilled into me and formed my background for what I’m doing now,” Knapp said.

His latest gig at the museum has lasted 21 years so far.

Knapp’s inspiration for his art could come anywhere.

On a visit to a flea market, he stumbled on a box of children’s toys that moved him. Toys that had once been loved and played with every day, now being thrown out. Maybe the box would go to a new home and another child might discover them? Who knew the end to the story?

Knapp started to paint. That piece is called “Discarded Childhood” and shows a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure, a baby doll and other play things depicted in colorful colors.

“Blue suits and robots” are the latest muse for Knapp in several of his pieces appearing in the �� exhibit.

“Men in blue suits, they represent authority figures, politicians, CEOs. Anybody that in your life that you would have had that would have been a boss or a principal of a school or somebody like that,” Knapp said, reflecting on his youth when he said he felt pressured to cut his hair and dress a certain way to conform in the business world and become somebody successful.

“I was never meant to do that. But in order to get the things that I wanted, they made it seem like I had to do that,” Knapp said.

Years later, Knapp responded by painting the men in suits with cartoon faces as caricatures.

Robots appear in his paintings too, like one where a robot is interviewing a human for a job.

Knapp expresses concern for how prevalent computers, robots and technology are in our lives.

“You can’t go to the grocery store without having to deal with a robot and you can’t call the doctor’s office without having to go through five or six robots before you can talk to a person,” he said. “They have become very intrusive, I think, in our lives.”

But not all his pieces question society or hint on sadness and nostalgia from childhood. Sometimes Knapp gets inspired by a movie line — the cheesier the better.

“It was an old science fiction movie, and they are overacting,” Knapp said, describing the motivation behind one painting. “This guy was very boisterous in his delivery, ‘Commander is on the rocky planet surface!’ … I said, ‘Oh wow. What a great line!’”

He pulled out his paintbrush and created the commander surrounded by rocks.

The reception of the exhibit has been positive after the exhibit officially kicked off with a grand-opening celebration, Boise said.

“I watched as diverse groups of students, faculty and staff stood before the canvases, which ironically are the dimension of a moderate-sized TV, discussing the possible narrative each painting presented,” Boise said. “In the day and age of the screen — often a solo endeavor — these paintings brought individuals together to decipher and discuss ultimately developing and strengthening ��’s community.”

If you want to see Knapp’s work, the gallery is located at 103 East Main St. in Leesburg, and is open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Special events may vary the hours. The gallery is open to the public.

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�� Staffers Take it to the Stage in Play that Reveals Life Lessons about Jealousy and Hatred

phos-beacon — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 01:03:00 +0000

Fighting over a man is a tragedy as old as time.

In fact, it’s biblical.

Indeed, the inspirational play “The Bad Girls of the Bible: Pick Your Poison” draws its inspiration from the Good Book, and its relatable and very human story of how jealousy devastates like a plague of locusts is what inspired �� staffers Tanya Harris-Rocker and Fredrica Mack to join the production.

“The Bad Girls of the Bible: Pick Your Poison,” written by playwright Tracie Bonnick, draws from the Genesis account of Leah and Rachel. The sisters developed an intense rivalry after they were wed to the same man — Jacob. Also called Israel, the Hebrew patriarch was the grandson of Abraham, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, and the traditional ancestor of the people of Israel,” according to Britannica.com.

In this version of the sister story, there’s trouble at Lolita’s Gospel Brunch, a Christian/gospel-themed restaurant, as Wanda and Juanita try work through their hatred for each other.

Harris-Rocker plays Lolita, who inherited the place from her father. She is the good sister to Loretta, who’s brooding over her share of the inheritance and the close relationship Lolita enjoyed with their father.

“The play alludes to or mimics the biblical story of Leah and Rachel,” Harris-Rocker said. “I drew my inspiration from my own personal and others’ cultural and social experiences and scenarios such as family life/relationship, family and social conflicts, and community interactions in places like church and family gatherings, both positive and negative.”

The play is part of a genre known as gospel (or inspirational) musical stage play, which Deborah Smith Pollard describes in her article, “The Phenomenon Known as “The Gospel Musical Stage Play,” in the journal The CEA (College English Association) Critic, as “a unique combination of religious and dramatic conventions, subtle and overt cultural symbols — including music, modes of advertising, and choices.”

Mack — who showed symptoms of being bit by the acting bug during lunchbreaks when she delighted in acting out scenes from movies apropos to the conversation to amuse her co-workers — also previously performed in two Bonnick-produced plays (“Whipped” and “The Bad Girls of the Bible Christmas”). With “Pick Your Poison,” Mack wanted to explore a new challenge as stage manager.

This latest foray on stage was Harris-Rocker’s third outing with Bonnick and Moving4Word Productions. She previously was involved in “Bad Girls of the Bible” and “Bad Girls of the Bible Christmas.”

While Harris-Rocker hopes the audience was able to reap life lessons from the fertile interpersonal themes in “Pick Your Poison,” she also hopes there were other strong takeaways.

“I hope the audience came away with a strong sense of the writer’s mission to provide quality Christian and cultural entertainment, our commitment to deliver realistic characters that the audience can identify and fall in love with, and to connect with the cultural and church community references that are emblematic of African-American culture, experience, and social norms,” Harris-Rocker said.

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Bellamy’s Statutes Stand Out in Recent Exhibit Meant to Reduce Art Buyer’s ‘Visual Tension’

phos-beacon — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 20:52:53 +0000

By Darryl E. Owens

Walt Disney, ever the creator, put his own spin on a familiar quote, once musing, “I don’t know if it’s art, but I know I like it.”

That sentiment often is internalized by art lovers who want to add beauty to their homes but are gunshy about their artistic acumen.

It’s a sentiment that led Orlando interior designer José J. Cabrera to help the skittish embrace their inner art aficionado and support regional artists by mounting and sponsoring Visual Tension: Artspace 2021, an exhibition staged in November at Mills Gallery in Orlando.

And like Disney, Cabrera knows what he likes: that includes some 30 paintings and sculptures from eight artists — including two larger installations and a pair of smaller sculptures from �� associate professor of art Russell Bellamy.

“I am always excited to be asked to participate in an exhibition,” said Bellamy, chair of ��’s art department.

An exciting experience, sure, but also “daunting as well as motivating,” he added. “The conception of the exhibition began nearly a year ago and it was a bit of a crunch to get everything completed in time.”

His featured piece, “Clones,” a Stonehenge-y platoon of concrete sentries, graces the cover of the November/December issue of Orlando Arts magazine ().

“Given the quality of the work included in the exhibition, I was very excited to have my work included in the article,” Bellamy said. “With the number of talented artists working and exhibiting in Central Florida, it was an honor to have my piece chosen for the cover.”

The exhibition, which closed on November 20, featured artists Krista Berman, Ben Van Beusekom, BOY KONG, DECOY, Brian Heeter, Michael Knapp, Charles Marklin, Beau Wild, and Bellamy.

The main reason Cabrera, who founded CL Studio in 1999, staged the event was “as a thank you to local artists because we have so many here. In this show, seven [were] from Central Florida, one [was] from Tampa, and one [was] from New Smyrna. They are all very special in their own right and after the year we had, I thought people would be ready to go out and see something different. Especially since they are taking a more critical look at their homes and might not like what they see on their walls.”

Bellamy had known and worked for a decade with Cabrera, who’d included some of Bellamy’s creations in homes he has worked on.

Even so, Kristy Lee Green, Mills Gallery’s artist-in-residence and education specialist, said the gallery strives to bring in more regional artists. This exhibition excited her because it allowed her to do just that.

“I had already been trying to get some of these artists in,” Green said in a press release. “And the ones I didn’t know I researched and was impressed with the talent.”

Bellamy’s creative talent pulses in the featured works.

“Clones,” his installation of concrete sculptures, includes 86 concrete pieces holding sway amongst a bed of blue poof balls. The other larger installation, titled “Organigram,” includes six steel sculptures and a larger central piece made of rubber, copper, and stainless steel, also displayed among blue poof balls.

His two small sculptures, “Delusions,” a steel and cardboard creation, and an epoxy piece titled “Grandeur” round out his contributions to the exhibit.

“This [was] a very exciting exhibition that includes some pretty amazing artwork from local artists,” Bellamy said. “It’s always good to meet other artists and see how they are interpreting current issues through their chosen mediums.”

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�� Writing Expert Puts his Art on the “Block”

phos-beacon — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 01:42:01 +0000

�� writing consultant and artist Dr. Ray Nault celebrated having two woodblock prints accepted into the 38th International Yoshida Hanga Academy exhibition, staged from March 27 through April 11 in Tokyo.

The Hanga Academy Exhibition is an annual event open for members of the Yoshida Hanga Academy, one of the most influential schools for Japanese woodblock printing.

“Patchwork,” Nault said “is what happens when window designs from Christian, Islamic, and Jewish places of worship are overlaid upon each other.”

His second print, “Madam I Madam,” depicts “Eve and Adam as Eve communicates to Adam while the fruit is still in her throat,” he said.

Nault previously has mounted exhibitions throughout Japan and around the world including at the Yoshida International Hanga Academy 30th Exhibition in Montbell, Shibuya; Osaka; Kyoto, and nine other cities, Menshokai 39th (Noh Mask) exhibition. Yokohama Civic Art Gallery, Yokohama, and Oji Paper Museum. Oji-City, Tokyo.

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Senior Art Student Offers His “Perceptions” in New Exhibition

phos-beacon — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 22:39:24 +0000

[visual_portfolio id=”21645″]

As philosopher Aldous Huxley saw it, “There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.”

As �� studio artist Marcos Allen sees it, the things he’s known living the bucolic life in Madison, Wisconsin, the unknown things that foster racial strife, and all the moments in between leaving Madison and on the homestretch of graduating college are doors that have shaped his senior portfolio exhibition, “Perceptions.”

“With ‘Perceptions,’ I wanted to bring in pieces that relate to my past, personal and perspectives,” Allen said. “I bring to light some topics of race through textural elements, juxtaposition and my interpretation on violence in my city during the (Black Lives Matter) BLM protest.”

The exhibition, he said, is a testament to his maturation as an artist.

“Attending the art program [at ��] has made me take a different look at what I consider art and to look at more creative ways to get my message across in my work,” Allen said.

“Perceptions” remains on display at the Kristin Michelle Mason Art Gallery on the �� campus through April 14.

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�� Art Professor Explores City-Country Junction in New Exhibition

phos-beacon — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 23:47:56 +0000

�� studio arts chair Russell Bellamy explores the intersection of urban and bucolic life in his new exhibition at the at the College of Central Florida.

“Pre-Conception” melds industrial materials and processes into challenging works that comment on labor, sociological/psychological structures, and behavioral expectations.

“I am influenced by the proximity of urban and rural landscapes and the mutually beneficial structures and aesthetics that create the areas and spaces in between,” Bellamy said.

That intersection often leaves him “straddling the lines of laborer and intellectual, urban and rural as well as agricultural and industrial.”

It’s a tightrope walk that likely owes to where Bellamy’s put down roots.

“Growing up in Kentucky, I lived in a city with a strong industrial history however the city was completely surrounded by agriculture,” he said. “This has also been the case for my time in Ohio, Oklahoma and Florida. These geographical areas are where ideas and processes are shared, political, religious and idealistic conflicts are common but some of the finest, most passionate, intelligent and well-grounded members of our communities are raised.”

“Pre-Conception” is open at the College of Central Florida through November 5.

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Student Artist Confronts Dyslexia in Virtual Exhibition

phos-beacon — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 00:17:50 +0000

Challenging times drive some to despair. For Emily Marra, challenging times she endured as a student with dyslexia and other learning differences drove her to draw. And sculpt. And paint.

“I had such a hard time understanding reading, writing, math, and even what people were saying so when I was younger it [art] was a way to express myself without writing or talking, then it turned into a love,” Marra said. “I really do believe that if you practice enough at something you can get better.”

She channels the trials and triumphs into her artistry. Artistry that was showcased last month as part of a virtual exhibition for the REED Charitable Foundation’s inaugural “Virtual Dyslexia Experience & Gala: The Artists.” Staged during Dyslexia Awareness Month, selections from dyslexic artists were at the heart of the inaugural fundraiser on October 24 for the REED (Reading Education Endowment for Dyslexia) Charitable Foundation. The organization educates, supports, and empowers the dyslexic community in Central Florida and beyond.

�� art teachers shared with Marra the foundation’s call for artists. She submitted three pieces.

“Emerald Waters,” a glass relief, features a Koi fish swimming through rippling water, showing, Marra noted, “that with persistence you can get through rough times.”

“The Astronaut” features a space explorer in search of a new home as she wistfully gazes back at a dying Earth.

Lastly, “Girl in the Hall,” an ink drawing, is probably the most on the nose of Marra’s works in peeking into the artist’s life. It features a girl curled up in the back of what looks like a hallway seen through the vertigo of learning disabilities.

“I made this work wanting to convey the feeling of what it’s like not getting the proper help in school when you need it and I thought it was perfect for the show,” she said.

The REED Foundation agreed, snapping up all three works.

“I was on cloud nine! I couldn’t believe it, I was so excited,” Marra said of the outcome. “It felt so surreal like a dream and I still feels that way.”

In a way, the REED Foundation selecting her work for the exhibition was both a culmination and confirmation of the artist path on which she has long tread.

“I always gravitated towards art and especially drawing,” Marra said. “Can’t really pinpoint when I started but I drew so much [that] I started to get better and better.”

By high school, she was taking art classes. The classes cemented that art was her thing.

In addition to dyslexia, Marra has dyscalculia and an auditory processing disorder. She credits her trio of learning differences with nurturing a greater interest in art.

“Yes, it can be hard, but with persistence it can get better. In making art, I lose myself and I don’t think about my learning differences.”

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Juried Art Exhibition Showcases Versatility of �� Artistry

phos-beacon — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 20:49:39 +0000

Art, by definition, involves getting creative.

And creativity is exactly what the �� studio art department mustered this month after the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the college into remote learning mode and scuttled plans for a traditional celebration of the Seventh Annual Juried Student Exhibition.

The exhibit opened to the public March 2. It was scheduled to culminate April 2 with a reception and awards ceremony, but the pandemic put the kibosh on that.

With a traditional, in-person winner reveal out of the question, studio arts faculty unveiled the winners in a recording to ensure this year’s talented crop of student artists were not wholly shortchanged in receiving their due.

“While it saddens us that we could not share this occasion in person, we wanted to continue the tradition of announcing winners and pinning awards next to each selected work,” said Dustin Boise, an assistant professor of art, who oversees the Kristin Michelle Mason Art Gallery at �� in Leesburg, Fla.

The student exhibition featured paintings, drawings, and sculpture from more than 30 students. Students of all classifications and various majors participated.��

During the academic year, studio arts faculty (Russ Bellamy, Boise, and Kim Watters) collect student artworks and slate pieces for the exhibition based on the artist’s creative risk-taking and mastery of skill.

Faculty later prepare their selections — without the including the name of the artist or title of the work — for professional display, curate and install the works in the Mason Art Gallery later to be judged by someone outside the �� community.

This year’s juror, ��is an associate professor at the College of Central Florida and professional artist who has a multi-media practice. He appraised the entries and assigned awards for: Best of Show; Best Two-Dimensional; Best Three-Dimensional; and five Honorable Mentions.

After the judging, studio arts faculty added title cards featuring the artist’s name and title of the artwork next to the piece.

Of this year’s competition, Clutter said, “in the end, judging this show was a pleasant experience. Many more pieces were just edged out of receiving awards, and another judge may easily have chosen different works. With a limit of awards, narrowing down is always difficult. �� students should be proud of the work they are creating and encouraged to keep striving to that next level within their art.”

The Kristin Michelle Mason Art Gallery and Studio Arts Department hopes to reschedule a reception for this exhibition this fall.��

In the meantime, here are this year’s Juried Student Exhibition winners:

Best of Show: Elana Karol, “Merry-go-round”

Best Two-Dimensional: Kyle Richardson, “The Colorful Swish”

Best Three-Dimensional: Connor Cremo, “Wooden Boxes”

Honorable Mention: Emily Marra, “Still Life No. 1”

Honorable Mention: Emily Marra, “Emerald Waters”

Honorable Mention: Elana Karol, “Ammonidea”

Honorable Mention: Marcos Allen, “Tree”

Honorable Mention: Jon Ritter, “The Well Taken Pathway”

To view the recording of the announcement of the winners, click here:

To read the juror statement, click here: Art Show Juror Statement

To view all the honored works, visit: ��

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Arts Archives - ��������