Written by: Zaina Salem

Among the hallways and gallery spaces of Folk Hall is a wide variety of works of art. In the home of the Myers School of Art, faculty and students display their creations for two exhibits: the Faculty Exhibition and the “Spectrum” exhibition.

The Faculty Exhibition includes work from many of the school’s programs, such as ceramics, graphic design, metalsmithing, painting, drawing, new media, photography, printmaking and sculpture. One artist featured in the exhibit is Spectrum curator and assistant graphic design professor Markus Vogl. He and other professors at the Myers School of Art encourage their students to “push their creativity and step away from what is comfortable.”

Spectrum compiles the work of 16 seniors, each a member of the advanced graphic design class, and explores many diverse ideas. Each student displays a different form of art that can be perceived and interpreted differently by each person.

One artist, Jen Cottrell, formed an interactive chalkboard jigsaw puzzle. A person can draw whatever they like on a puzzle piece and interlock it with the others to form a big picture; the whole creation doesn’t have to form a specific picture.

Caroline Alley completed a work of shadow boxes titled “Social Deception.” She aimed to portray the idea of finding an inner self, even when appearances seem normal.

“I wanted to show that on the outside you can look completely normal, but on the inside you can be completely different,” Alley said.

Mahala Bloom creates her work with moving pictures. She explores the misconceptions of first impressions, and how automobiles can change our perceptions of the drivers. Attaching a video camera to the seat of her car, she gathered four hours of footage of different drivers and trimmed it down to 20 minutes.

“I came up with the idea for my work very naturally. I’m a people-watcher and deep-thinker, and am always curious about the drivers around me. It intrigued me, because each person has their own unique personalities and lives, but I only have mere seconds to gather my impression of who they are,” says Bloom.

Also looking at first impressions is Stephanie Tremble. Tremble created two faces out of wax. One represents how she views herself, and has words that describe her fused into the wax. The other represents how others view her.

“I wanted to focus this project on how people view things from a different angle,” Tremble said.

Each work of art in the exhibits at Folk Hall represent a different meaningful idea. Some are clear while others mysterious.

Bloom says, “It is both thrilling and intimidating to have people view your work, which is completely exposed- all of the perfections and flaws alike.”

The Faculty Exhibit will be displayed from now until Dec. 7 in Folk Hall’s Emily Davis Gallery, Monday through Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Spectrum will run from now until Nov. 23 in Folk Hall’s Project Gallery, and in the upper and lower atriums. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.