The art galleries at Sinclair Community College provide examples of professional art from both students and faculty members on campus.
The three galleries are located in Building 13 off of Fifth and Perry streets and include the Burnell R. Roberts Triangle, Works on Paper and the Hypotenuse.
“The primary role is that they provide examples of professional art for the art students,” Pat McClelland, coordinator of the art galleries, said. “It’s a reference for them in terms of professional development and technique.”
The galleries were put in the building around 1990 and are open to the public.
The exhibits on display in each of the galleries are a way to showcase the different work that is present throughout the year.
“We try to mix it up, we seek diversity,” McClelland said. “The Works on Paper gallery by its nature and its name, tends to be drawings, photographs and things that fit in a fairly small space.”
The Burnell R. Roberts Triangle gallery can differ from year to year on what is presented. In the past, the gallery has had video installations, sculptures, paintings, as well as traditional media and non-traditional media.
Located on the third floor of Building 13 by the sky-bridge connecting Building 9 is the Hypotenuse gallery. The Hypotenuse generally has sculptures and ceramics.
“It most commonly exhibits student work in ceramics and sculpture,” he said. “But will occasionally be employed to show 3D or installation work by professional artists.”
McClelland said that in January the Hypotenuse will have student work by the 2013-14 Fine Art Scholarship recipients.
“More of that work will be on display in the cases on the north wall of the sky-bridge just east of Building 2,” he said.
The Art department has two student shows a year along with one faculty show, where a faculty member is featured in the Triangle gallery, while other faculty members are in the art galleries throughout the building.
After the two student and faculty shows, what is on display in the galleries is work that has been submitted as exhibition proposals. A committee meets once a year to review those proposals and then the artists are chosen.
“We have about 100 proposals that come in and maybe 14 are chosen,” McClelland said. “Most artists that exhibit in the galleries here are not regional or local artists.”
McClelland said that the galleries are national and can even be international in their scope.
The comment book that is available in the Triangle gallery is a place where the public, faculty, staff and students can express their opinion on the exhibits.
“People’s opinion is of value,” he said. “Every artist that exhibits, I send them copies of the comments in the comment book so the artists themselves get feedback as to how their work is being perceived and whether it is accepted or not.”
McClelland said he enjoys the diversity of the galleries and the variety that he is able to see each year.
The exhibits featured for the upcoming spring semester include Jennifer Nelson’s “The Space Between” and Cynthia Bornhorst’s “Winslow,” which will be on display for the majority of the month, starting Jan. 6.
“[Winslow] is sort of a feminist show about the role of craft and women in the Victorian era,” he said.
Starting in early February, “Realizing Ethnic Awareness and Cultural Heritage Across Dayton, or REACH: Shades of Greatness” will be on exhibit.
“A baseball-themed exhibit is coming for the REACH conference about the negro leagues,” he said. “It’s a very valued exhibit that I am pretty excited about.”
In addition, two student shows including the Annual Juried Art Show and the Graduating Art Students Portfolio show will wrap up the semester.
For more information about the galleries or information on what is going to be on display, visit Sinclair.edu/arts/galleries or contact McClelland at pat.mcclelland@sinclair.edu.
“Everyone has their own personal tastes,” McClelland said. “And the role of art is in part to get people thinking.”