What do you do in your free time, when you’re not slaving away at work? Sleep, eat, work, eat, sleep, repeat? For the staff at the Urban Arts Space, this may also include attending classes, studying for exams, working additional part-time jobs, and often times, creating art. Almost entirely student-run, the Urban Arts Space boasts a multi-talented team of staff and interns – from fine artists and designers to writers and scholars. We rely on this variety of strengths to operate, each contributing to a diverse learning laboratory and a wonderfully vibrant arts space.
For the first time in our organizational history, our staff has been given the opportunity to showcase the creative arena of their lives at work – their own art – in the exhibition, Internal Affairs. Each staff member was given the opportunity to submit a piece to include in the show that now adorns the walls of the BackSpace gallery.
Having little exposure to the hidden artistic of the staff, I loved watching the installation and tried to guess whose work was whose. I’ve heard the same sentiment from many of the other team members, everyone drawn to something different and in awe of the unique talents of coworkers.
Graduate student and Urban Arts Space Education Team Leader Connie Hill has two painted works in the show that evoke a faded memory in me of the movie Tremors, yet a more playful and colorful version of the underground creatures. Then there are the startling photographs by recent graduate and Space assistant Sean Moore. The triptych leaves you gasping for air as you view the artist’s head and torso covered by thick plastic sheeting.
I must admit, I was a little nervous about contributing my own piece to the show, knowing the staff would be criticizing it (in the softest sense of the word.) One’s work and one’s art can expose different sides to a life often left divided. But in the end the collision of our worlds has created a wonderful exhibition that I doubt you will want to miss. When you’re not working, do you peruse art galleries? We’d love to see you.
Internal Affairs will be on view through Saturday, September 3, 2011. Join the Urban Arts Space for an opening reception today, Thursday, July 28th from 5-7pm in the Historic Lazarus Building at 50 W. Town Street, Columbus OH 43215. Light refreshments from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, Pam’s Market Popcorn and Café Brioso will be served. Free and open to all!
GCAC Presents is a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council – supporting art and advancing culture in Columbus – in partnership with the Columbus Arts Marketing Association, a professional development and networking association of arts marketers. Each column will be written by a different local arts organization to give you an insiders look at the arts in Columbus.