In the Andrew Jackson House, one can find the home of the GAR Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides charitable grants in many areas of Summit County, primarily to organizations that focus on education, arts and art education, health and social services and civic enhancements.
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In the Andrew Jackson House, one can find the home of the GAR Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides charitable grants in many areas of Summit County, primarily to organizations that focus on education, arts and art education, health and social services and civic enhancements.
Last year, GAR started an undergraduate exhibition, involving both the students of the Myers School of Art from The University of Akron and Kent State University School of Art, where juniors and seniors pursuing either a BA or BFA could submit up to five of their pieces for the chance of having them displayed in the illustrious hallways and offices at the Andrew Jackson House located on Mill Street.
Bridget O’Donnell, a graduate Printmaking major from Kent State University, was the curator for this event. Her main challenge was to select the best artwork from over 200 pieces created by over 50 students, narrowing them down to 12 pieces from Kent and 11 pieces from Akron from as many students.
It was very difficult to choose just 23 bodies of work that could be shown, said O’Donnell at the opening ceremony.
I tried to think about work that was contemporary and things you might see in a gallery that you wanted to see in a city of this size [referring to the size of Akron and how grand it is]. Something that really shows the best work of what both schools had to offer. And I wanted to show as many mediums as I possibly could. I also wanted to find what would fit perfectly together in the space.
At 4 p.m. Feb. 24, the doors opened to the public, and an hour later the commencement ceremony took place. President and CEO of the Akron Community Foundation John T. Petures awarded each of the artists with a $100 stipend.
I feel honored to be in a highly regarded show, said Ashley Tolfo, Photography major whose photograph ‘Pile-On’ was accepted.
Nate Mayfield, Painting and Drawing major whose painting ‘Rust Belt’ was accepted, said that the show is a great opportunity to have your artwork shown. And if you can, you should submit for a chance to be seen.
David Lam, Graphic Design major whose photograph ‘Stand Alone Pole’ was accepted, said that the show is a great opportunity. Everything was nicely set up and the people are very friendly.
Andrew Somoskey, Painting and Drawing major whose painting ‘Carousel’ was accepted, said the show flows very nicely together and it is a nice mix of different mediums and the common threads between them all can be seen, having a nice structure to all of it.
It is great that this foundation [the GAR Foundation] exists, said Joe Bartram, Sculpture Major whose steel piece ‘I’ was accepted.
[The show] allows students from both schools to see each others’ work, opening the boundaries of the art communities in both cities and will hopefully force a better working relationship between the two schools and show the students what their peers are working on, said O’Donnell after the ceremony.
The hard work of the art students from Akron and Kent is beneficial to both groups, as it forces them all to push themselves to their limits, and this show is the best way for it to happen.