College Cooperative Art Show

An exhibition of art by students of five New Haven area colleges and universities will open at Artspace on Audubon Street, Friday, February 7, 5-7 p.m. The show, featuring work from Yale, Southern Connecticut State, Albertus Magnus, Quinnipiac, and the University of New Haven, will remain on view through March 8. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Presidents, provosts, and other educators and administrators from the five schools are expected to attend the opening reception, along with artists and community members.

The show is the culmination of a year of planning by a group of deans and provosts who established the Five College Arts Collaborative to expand the relationships among its member institutions and enrich the greater New Haven community through the artistic talents of the city’s students and faculty. In addition, the consortium seeks to encourage students to see New Haven as their college town, and to promote the city as an arts center. The Artspace exhibition is expected to be the first of many cooperative ventures.

“Those of us who have worked on the Five College Arts Collaborative from ‘Day One’ are thrilled to see this student exhibition take place,” says Diana E.E. Kleiner, deputy provost for the arts at Yale. “Such an exhibition could only happen in a city like New Haven, with its vibrant and diverse student population and its excellence in the arts. I am optimistic that the kind of synergy that has been created here will grow and result in exciting future collaborations.”

“The consortium was inspired by the intention to focus on and celebrate what we have in common,” says Jerry Zinser, associate professor of visual arts at UNH and coordinator of the exhibition, “Student Art at Artspace.”

Edwin V. Selden, director of the Community Development Collaborative at SCSU, conceived the idea of the Five College Arts Collaborative. He comments, “The exhibition at Artspace is a unique and historic occasion. It is our strong hope that additional activities will be initiated in art, music, dance, and theater in the future, encouraging the students of all five schools to see New Haven as their college town.”

Founding members of the consortium were Sister Charles Marie Brantl, dean of Albertus Magnus; Nancy Carriuolo, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, UNH; Ms. Kleiner, Yale; Mr. Selden; J. Philip Smith, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, SCSU; and David Steinbeck, dean of the School of Liberal Arts, Quinnipiac College.

Each school has its own coordinator for the art show, and each is accorded equal space in the gallery. Yale, for example, will be represented by five artists: a painter, a photographer, a graphic designer, and two sculptors. UNH will be represented by 16 artists working in a wide range of media. Coordinators for the inaugural exhibition are Mike Eagle, Quinnipiac; Keith Hatcher, SCSU; Richard Lytle, Yale; and Jerry Nevins, Albertus Magnus; and Mr. Zinser, UNH. Eve Ingalls, a board member of Artspace and Yale graduate B.F.A. 1960, M.F.A., 1962, is artistic director of the show. A painter and sculptor, her own work will be shown at SoHo20 Gallery in New York City in February.

Artspace is a private, not-for-profit gallery “established to provide professional, technically-equipped space for the presentation of new work in the visual, literary, and performing arts,” says Barbara Webster, executive director. “Serving the community and the audiences of this region is another important part of our mission. Those audiences certainly include the college-age youth, faculty, and staff.”