The School of Visual Arts will host a collaborative art show with students and professional artists starting Feb. 2.
Symbiotic was arranged by Jarica Walsh, university artist in residence for 2017. Walsh is an alumna from University of Oklahoma in Norman and the artistic director for the Oklahoma Arts Coalition. She reached out to Holly Moye, school of visual arts director, with a proposal for the project.
Walsh had a studio for the past year in Norick Art Center to work on her own art, allowing students to visit while also coordinating Symbiotic.
Symbiotic is intended to provide student artists with connections to professionals in the area before they graduate. The show was first hosted at OU in 2016. For the 2018 exhibit, Walsh selected 16 students and paired them with different professionals. The artists then worked with their groups using their personal medium to create an array of installments for the exhibit, ranging from interactive to visual art.
“The first time, the student artists really were able to take away value from those collaborations,” Walsh said. “So, I wanted to do it again.”
Steffanie Halley, one of the professional artists on the project, collaborated with a student from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, as well as OCU student Kyla Bruegel, art/film junior. The three worked together on a photography project.
“We were assigned to photograph the local community,” Bruegel said. “We defined an area around OCU, so like OCU and the Plaza District and Classen, and we gave ourselves a set of parameters, then we just went around and photographed the area and tried to capture a sense of community through photography.”
Other schools that collaborated on the show include OU, University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond and Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond.
“I’ll be excited to see what actually happens when I go to the exhibit,” Bruegel said.
Bruegel said she has seen Instagram posts of the project, featuring some behind-the-scenes looks at what the artists have worked on, though she hasn’t seen what any of the other artists have created.
The exhibit will have an opening reception from 6-8 p.m. Friday, and the show itself will last until March 9. It will be at the Nona Jean Hulsey Gallery in Norick Art Center.
“The thing I’m most excited about is having my work shown in a gallery,” Bruegel said.
Students can follow Symbiotic’s Instagram @symbioticoklahoma or visit their website, SymbioticOklahoma.com for more information on the exhibit and a first look at some of the projects.
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