“So you know you need a little more culture in your life, but sometimes it just seems like too much of an effort to make the special trip to a theater or museum. Not to fear, however, because cultural events are often held right here on campus. The Honors College now houses student and faculty art exhibitions in the hallways of the upper and lower levels.”
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So you know you need a little more culture in your life, but sometimes it just seems like too much of an effort to make the special trip to a theater or museum.

Not to fear, however, because cultural events are often held right here on campus.

The Honors College now houses student and faculty art exhibitions in the hallways of the upper and lower levels.

The Honors College hosted an opening reception in the upper level gallery for University of Akron art professor Jim Lenavitt’s retrospective exhibition 8708 last week.

The exhibition features paintings, prints and photographs spanning the last 20 years of the artist’s career.

Lenavitt describes his work as an expression; it is the language he uses to communicate his view of the world.

I am interested in the fact that when a person learns, it is done through a certain established language, Lenavitt said.

For me, my work consists of transferring collaged materials and images to digital prints. They are not photographs, but they allow the properties of the digital medium to be processed while still maintaining the look of a traditional print.

Lenavitt often uses a variety of found materials, such as tar, truck bed liner paint, wood and plastic to create his works.

All of my images are about combining disparate materials and creating unity out of them, Lenavitt said.

I am interested in anything that can make a mark, whatever material I feel is necessary to communicate an idea.

The decision to create gallery space in the Honors College Building was a joint effort between Myers School of Art and the Honors College.

It’s something we’ve been working on for several years. It was really a matter of preparing the space and getting the lighting up, Honors College Dean Dr. Dale Mugler said.

The idea is to have revolving exhibitions, probably two each semester. It’s great because it will give students something to do as they walk the halls.

I think the idea started over in the Honors College, with Dr. Mugler. He brought the proposal to Rod Bengston (gallery director) and me, Myers School of Art Director Del Ray Loven said.

So we did a feasibility study and met with some of the faculty members last spring to see if there was any interest. I took a look at Jim’s art and felt that he had some really great work, so we decided to do a retrospective.

The gallery space is open to any student or faculty member with an interest in displaying his or her work. All exhibits which will first be reviewed and selected by an exhibition committee before being displayed.

According to Loven, they are currently working on exhibitions for the fall semester, which could include a display of work by Myers professor George DiSabato.

It’s a great way to bring together the Myers students and the Honors College and its sizable population of students, Loven said.

The community needs to know what these professors have been doing. For them, this is their research, and this is a great opportunity to showcase their work.

The success of the project was perhaps best summarized by Myers painting and drawing professor Mark Soppeland, who called the show Brilliant!

Lenavitt’s exhibition 8708will be on display in the upper hallway Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. until June 27.

The gallery space in the lower hallway has Myers School of Art student Alle Elia’s All Dreams Unraveling show, on exhibition at the same times listed above.

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