Although an unconventional place to display student work, the Andrew Mellon Library has recently hosted an Arts Concentration gallery. The exhibit, which all members of visual Arts Con contributed to, required students to use materials from the New York Times to create a unique piece of art. Because it is widely used by many Choate students, the library was an ideal spot to display student talent. Not only did the artwork fill otherwise empty spaces, but it also highlighted visual themes of the library.
Ellie Latham ’18 was one of the students who submitted art to the exhibit. “Everyone in visual arts concentration did one piece, independently of the group. I think the purpose was to make an exhibit to fill the empty space in the library, and newspaper as a medium fits with a library and all the books and periodicals around,” she said.
The exhibit gave parameters to the artists — each person had to use one entire New York Times paper. Latham added, “No paint, inner structures, or anything else was allowed besides clear adhesive.”
Despite having the same requirements, students interpreted the parameters in different ways and created distinctly unique pieces. “It’s been a real challenge for all of us, but it was particularly cool to see how we all came up with such different concepts,” said Latham.
Latham continued, “My piece is the one of the hands reaching out of the wall. Some people based their projects aesthetically but I took my theme from the content of the paper and built from there.” Many of the pieces connected art to world events, as seen in Latham’s piece. “The hands represent a grasping for justice on behalf of the Middle Eastern countries that have dealt with US interference for centuries, and the piece as a whole represents the rhetoric that we use to discuss foreign relations in the US.”
The exhibit is a stunning representation of student artists on campus, and hopefully, its popular location will attract many viewers.
