Exhibition brings alumni home

As part of Augustana's sesquicentennial celebration, the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery and the Center for Western Studies will be featuring artwork from Augustana alumni.

The exhibition, entitled "Augustana Art: Then and Now" features over 100 alumni from as far back as 1946 to as current as 2010.

"This exhibition was an oppurtunity to celebrate the creative traditions fostered by Augustana College and the creative lives of our alumni," art professor and Gallery Director Lindsay Twa said. "Augustana has produced some outstanding artists."

Twa sent out a call for artwork last summer and invited alumni to submit up to three pieces of work from either  their school days or more recent works.

"We then selected works based on their quality and with an eye to having as diverse an exhibition as possible - both in styles, mediums and also representations from the various generations of artists," Twa said.

Many of the artists also submitted reminiscences about their time here.

2000 graduate Bridget Beck recalled her time spent in the old gym barracks where the department was housed before the construction of the Center for Visual Arts

"I remember when I climbed into the attic of the sculpture lab, wrote an entire story on the floor in chalk . . . hidden and cried when times were tough, drawn through squinted eyes, asked so many questions hoping to understand what art meant and what it would mean to my life, and I'll steadfastly say that I'd never take a second of it back," she said.

One of the most striking pieces in the gallery is "What's Up?" by  2005 graduate Lucia Joorahn Hwang. It is a mixed media piece that  features hundreds of eggs mounted on cardboard and comes complete with a stuffed chicken.

Hwang was compelled to study at Augustana after a phone call from fomer art professor Carl Grupp.

"His answer from that phone call is still talking to me, a low echo flowing through my head, ‘Just come and draw,'" Hwang said.

But Twa hopes that this exhibition will have more impact than just bringing up memories of the past.

"We hoped that by highlighting these great artists, it would further inspire the young artists currently studying at Augustana," Twa said.

"This group show was also an important opportunity to create visual and actual dialogues between the many generations of artists who have graduated from Augustana."

The exhibition will be on display in the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery and the Center for Western Studies until Nov. 6.