The culmination of nearly a year's worth of work for four art students came together last week in a presentation from winners of two prestigious scholarships at the Center for the Arts on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Pieces from Clifford Borress, Joeseph Brittain, LindaBeth Nichols Flack and George Jorgensen, winners of the Rumsey and Potenza scholarships, will be on display in the student gallery in the basement of the CFA until Dec. 7. The two combined grants allowed winners to travel to a city of their choice to study and create art.
The students submitted proposals last year to obtain the scholarships. Portions of their expenses, travel, and enrollment fees were paid by the scholarships, which awarded each student approximately $1,500.
Brittain, a senior double major in art history and visual art, traveled to New York City to attend the School for the Visual Arts and participated in a studio residency for a month, where he kept an apartment in the art district of Chelsea.
Brittain said a professor or a critic would walk through almost daily and give feedback and comments on his work; however, his main focus was not on mass production of art.
During his time in New York City, Brittain created a wall of paintings approximately 25 feet tall and 10 feet wide.
"I just tried to get the gist of things and expose myself to the city as much as I could and didn't worry about making things," said Brittain.
He said his experience with the Rumsey scholarship was as much about learning about different places as it was about learning art.
"For me, before I left, New York was kind of like the pinnacle of the art world," Brittain said. "That was the end-all, be-all, it was a nice experience to realize what was going on there and how it relates to things in Buffalo."
Currently, the gallery displays Brittain's pieces, "Pre-Fab/Re-Fab," an ice sculpture which melts, drains back into a freezer, and reforms itself, as well as "Still Life in Landscape," a series of photographs featuring a painting Brittain placed alongside Dodge Road in Amherst.
Borress, who lived in Queens over the summer, also attended the School for the Visual Arts as part of the Studio Residency Program, but he stayed for two months and had his own show in July. Most of his work was produced in New York City and put on display during the show.
While in New York City, Borress "learned how to work inside (his) own studio environment," something he was "unaccustomed to" because students are not given their own studios at UB.
"It was very similar to how grad school works, in that the classes are less emphasized," Borress said. "It was more just being in the studio and working. It was very independently based; it was not very project-based."
For Borress, it was nice seeing the city from a different vantage point, since he grew up near the New York City area. However, Borress said he never felt like he experienced the New York art world until now.
Borress described his current piece, "Unique Industries," as a "kinetic sculpture." It incorporates 2,880 champagne poppers, manufactured by Unique Industries, into an 8-foot, 8-inch by 5-foot, 8-inch board, which is suspended in mid-air. Borress said the audience should interpret the piece uniquely.
Flack spent six weeks in Boston, studying at the Museum of Fine Art of Boston, and took an in-depth film editing class, containing five or six students.
"It wasn't as conceptually strong as I would have hoped, but I know that's what's really great about UB," said Flack.
Flack said the work in Boston supplemented the work she is already doing at UB in her double major in photography and sociology.
"We didn't talk about any concept at all, we just learned how to edit, which is fine," she said. "I learned well, I did well in the class, and I got credit for it at UB."
While using the libraries in the Boston area, Flack said she developed an interest in the area of gender and art, which contributed to her current piece, consisting of eight photos, titled "positioned portraits."
"I'm interested in what kind of spaces are available to present a female subject, even though there is so much baggage that accompanies the image of women," she said.
Unlike traditional notions of a photographic subject, Flack said her photos are meant to draw a human side out of the person in the portrait.
"Typically, art made - I can't even say about women - art made of women - very little times does it leave that space for a subject to come out," Flack said.
Flack said any junior who is interested in the scholarship should apply.
"I would say definitely do it, because you may think 'oh, I'll never get it,'" she said. "But nobody's going to get it if nobody applies for it."
George Jorgensen, a senior sculpture major, traveled to Mexico City to visit Aztec and Mayan ruins as well as his mother's family with his grant money.
"It's been a wonderful opportunity, and I would recommend anyone who's interested in (the grant) to go for it," said Jorgensen.
Jorgensen said the scholarship has opened his eyes to new cultures and new ways of life.
"It's given me further insight about the culture of Mexico City because not only was I able to visit the ruins ... but I was able to visit my family who lives there," he said.
During his weeklong visit to the heavy tourism site, Jorgensen said he noticed life was both vibrant and turbulent in Mexico.
"It's such a warm culture, a warm city, but then again, it's very dangerous," said Jorgensen.
Mexico City is known for its crime and kidnappings, and Jorgensen said he saw small children selling candy on the street, trying to make money for their parents.
During a trip to the zoo with his 3-year-old nephew, Marcos, Jorgensen said the similarities between these street children and his own family became very clear, prompting him to create the work which is currently on display at the CFA.
The piece, titled "Reflections," shows a picture of a boy much like the one Jorgensen remembers from Mexico, and another picture of Marcos, both set atop a bright woven Mexican blanket.
According to Jorgensen, the message of the piece is to remember that purchasing items in heavily populated tourist areas can be detrimental to the economy, if it is the only source of income for the poor in the area.
"It's a cost of the ignorance of the consumer, of being a tourist," Jorgensen said. "I am wondering if tourism wasn't there, if those kids wouldn't have a better future."
"When people go to Mexico, they think of the vibrant culture, which there is, but there is more than that," he added.
The Rumsey and Potenza scholarships are open to any junior art major graduating in the spring of the following year. For more information, contact the art office in room 202 of the Center For the Arts.
