Innovative artist forum series spurs students’ artistic growth

The FIU School of Art and Art History is helping students to define their roles as artists in today’s world and experiment with new techniques and visions with its innovative Artist Forum series.

The Painting Studios launched the series, which presents unique painting exhibitions and workshops, as a platform to accelerate students’ learning and creative processes and provide them with a vibrant space for developing their ideas and methods.

Assistant painting professor Mette Tommerup came up with the idea for the series last spring when she noticed a big chunk of space used for storage at one of the painting studios. “I thought, ‘Why not use it as an extension of the painting studios and an alternative exhibition space?'” she recalled.

Under Tommerup’s supervision, students create works of art and help orchestrate edgy, open-to-the public exhibitions four times a semester. In October, Artists Forum presented Fashionatrix: The Seamstress of Rage, a dysfunctional fashion show. As students paraded down a runway in dresses made of printmaking paper, the Florida Laptop and Electronic Arts Ensemble (FLEA), a musical group based in the College of Architecture and the Arts, played eerie music from their laptop computers.

The November 12 show Hepatic Heteropia featured art student Christine Fitzgerald appearing to consume household objects while inside a red fabric organ meant to be a liver.

Recently, Artist Forum presented the workshop Gestural Catering:  a unique collaboration between renowned artist Janine Antoni, graduate art students and Miami artists. To engage the students’ thoughts on the meaning and functionality of food, the alternative space was transformed into a makeshift kitchen. Participants created plates of “food” which were formulations of paint, clay and plaster.

These events give students real-world experience interacting with the public and the art community and prepare them for successful careers.

For B.F.A. student Daniel Ortiz, participation in the painting exhibitions and workshops spurred his growth and momentum as an artist. Said the senior, “These experiences helped me to develop my artistic work and gave me real insight about the commitment required to carry out an exhibition.”