GCC and MassArt exhibit features photography and abstract painting

November 13, 2008

Where in Franklin County does abstract painting stretch its limits and photography meet sculpture? From now until November 20, the South Gallery on GCC’s main campus houses an exhibit of works-in-progress by MassArt students enrolled in advanced-level college art courses offered through GCC’s special collaboration with the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt).

The South Gallery is open during the College’s regular hours: Monday - Thursday from 7 a.m. - 9 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. “Image and Object” and “Abstract Painting Critique” are this semester’s MassArt courses. “Image and Object” provides the opportunity to look at photography from a different perspective, combining photography with objects to create three-dimensional mixed-media pieces. “Abstract Painting Critique” focuses on how to represent a word or idea with abstract visual imagery. This semester’s theme is “scandal” and visual interpretations of that word.

In conjunction with the exhibit, on Wednesday, November 19 at Noon in GCC’s South Gallery, Helene Zuckerbrod, Assistant Director of Admissions at MassArt, will speak to students and interested community members about MassArt’s programs. She’ll answer questions about admissions and talk about courses and college life at MassArt’s main campus in Boston.

For three years, GCC has offered two advanced-level MassArt courses per semester through the MassArt collaboration. Each semester includes a course in photography taught by GCC professor Tom Young, and a Fine Arts course taught by T. Budge Hyde. The GCC/MassArt collaboration is a unique opportunity for GCC students and area residents to take high-level college art courses in Greenfield. Community colleges typically offer introductory and intermediate level courses. The MassArt courses allow GCC students to get a taste of advanced level art courses and to learn from students with more experience. Students enrolled in the MassArt courses include GCC degree students as well as students from other area colleges and community members who already have a degree or are interested in taking their art to a higher level. MassArt courses taught at GCC count for full credit in MassArt’s Bachelors degree programs.

GCC President Robert L. Pura appreciates the benefits the MassArt/GCC Program offers students. “It provides significant outcomes for our students, for MassArt and for GCC,” he said. “The collaboration speaks volumes about both colleges’ commitment to access and excellence.”

T. Budge Hyde, instructor of the Abstract Painting Critique course, appreciates the opportunity to work with students beyond the foundation level. He said, “In most GCC art courses, we introduce our students to the language of art and the process of making art. With the MassArt courses we really get to put those foundations into action. The courses are small, very intensive, and require a lot of work. This exhibit allows students to show their work-in-progress.”

Tom Young, instructor of the “Image and Object” course and coordinator of the GCC MassArt collaboration, said, “This program allows local students to begin taking MassArt classes without moving to Boston and to work toward a B.F.A. Degree at the well-respected  MassArt. Many of our students are not able to move to Boston because of finances, family, or job issues. We hope to have this program grow to allow students to be based at GCC and then to commute to Boston for a day or two to take classes at MassArt.”

GCC’s collaboration with MassArt is unique, the only such collaboration between MassArt, a nationally-recognized art school, and a community college. T. Budge Hyde said, “By choosing to collaborate with GCC, MassArt acknowledges the strength of GCC’s Art department. The collaboration was initiated by Kay Sloan, current President of MassArt and former President of GCC, based on her familiarity with GCC’s Art department and our history of placing our students at MassArt and other prestigious art schools around the country.”

Kristin Nason is one of the students whose work is on exhibit in the GCC MassArt Student Show. She said, “I graduated from UMass, Amherst in 2001 with a degree in art, but studied very little photography there. The introductory photo classes at GCC allowed me to build my technical ability and helped me begin thinking about images critically, but the MassArt classes are where I really started to grow as an art maker. The work on exhibit in this show is from the MassArt/GCC class called "Image and Object" which pushes photographic images into three dimensions. As a photographer used to consistently thinking about 2-D images, it’s exciting to bring in elements of sculpture to the work. I’m applying to MFA graduate programs in photography, and the classes I've taken through the MassArt/GCC program have played a critical role in my preparation.”

For more information about the exhibit, GCC’s Art department, or the GCC MassArt collaboration, contact. Paul Lindale, GCC Art Department Chair, 413-775-1241 or visit art.gcc.mass.edu.