Cutting-edge art from Cornish

General Article

PHS Art Task Force fills the Arnold Building with inspirational art from the graduating students at Cornish College

PHS Task Force members Georgia Green and Scott Sutherland test "Pull." Created by artist Russ Anderson, the interactive art can be enjoyed from all angles. Photo by Todd McNaught

Like prospectors with modest expectations, Georgia Green, Scott Sutherland and Dr. Alan Kristal went to the Cornish College of the Arts hoping to find a few nuggets. Instead, they struck a mother lode — not of gold but of art.

Visitors to the Arnold Building at the Hutchinson Center can see for themselves as the Public Health Sciences Division is now host to a large and diverse exhibit of pieces produced by recent Cornish graduates.

"We went there with the idea we'd get a few things," said Kristal, a PHS investigator and chair of the PHS Art Task Force. A "few things" turned into 88 paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures — and a few pieces that defy categorization — plucked from Cornish's annual Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition.

Bonnie Biggs, professor of art at Cornish and a senior faculty advisor for the BFA show, recalled how excited Green, Sutherland and Kristal became as they admired one piece after another. "They said, 'We want this, we want this, we want this.'"

The pieces are on loan to PHS for a year. After that, the plan is to replace them with art from next year's BFA Exhibition, where senior students showcase their crowning works. "We hope to make it an annual thing," Kristal said. So does Biggs. "It's definitely one of those win-win situations," she said.

The collaboration satisfies the mission of the PHS Art Task Force to "bring art of the highest quality" into the Arnold Building as well as the desire of Cornish students to show their work — and possibly sell it. The Center-wide Art Committee and various employees have expressed interest in purchasing some of the works when the current exhibit ends next May.

"The students are delighted to have their work come right out of the BFA show and into another venue and possibly be purchased," Biggs said. "And the Hutchinson Center is getting a building filled with really nice art without having to wait for years and years."

The PHS Art Task Force complements the Center-wide Art Committee. The seven-member committee — Kristal is PHS's representative — selects art for the Center's permanent collection. Those pieces are displayed in the Center's public spaces. Meanwhile, the PHS art task force was formed to develop guidelines for displaying and acquiring art for those parts of the Arnold Building not covered by the Art Committee — plus a number of public spaces the committee has "loaned" to the task force while the committee gradually obtains more pieces for the building's permanent collection.

The idea to approach Cornish came from Sutherland, manager of Collaborative Data Services and member of the task force. Sutherland formerly worked at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, which regularly loaned work to a local business. Acquainted socially with Biggs, Sutherland figured the same arrangement might work between Cornish and the Hutchinson Center.

"We wanted to fill the building with art, but our options were limited," he said. "I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity for both the Center and the students."

Once the ball started rolling, someone from the PHS Art Task Force had to coordinate all of the details required to transfer the art from Cornish to the Arnold Building and ensure its proper display. That person was Georgia Green, administrator for the Epidemiology Program.

"I don't think anybody worked harder on this idea than Georgia Green," said Lawrie Robertson, division administrator for PHS. "Georgia's been the driving force and has put in many, many, many hours."

Although she calls it a "labor of love," the amount of work required caught Green off guard. "We were so naïve," she said. "We thought, 'Art, OK, great. We'll just hang it.'"

Wrong. "It occurred to me in conversations with Bonnie Biggs that we were installing an honest-to-goodness art exhibit that was no different than exhibits found in private art galleries," Green said. "Every detail had to be just right — location, proximity to other works, suitable lighting, labeling and so on."

Fortunately, enthusiasm for the project was contagious as fellow task force members Clayton Hibbert, Darlene Fontana and Janice Findley helped Green manage the logistics. In addition, Biggs devoted 150 hours to the month-long installation process while several of the 22 students who contributed pieces also lent a hand. "Bonnie's knowledge, her low-key approach and her commitment were key to the success of this whole thing," Green said.

Catalog coming

None of it could have happened, however, without the hard work and cooperation of the Facilities and Operations staff. "They were extraordinarily helpful in pulling everything together," Green said, citing in particular Scott Rusch, vice president; Mary McGeough, administrative manager; Michael Carney, project manager; Jim Mead, supervisor, and Mead's team of carpenters and electricians.

Biggs said she had never before participated in a project where everybody worked so well together. "Everybody at the Hutchinson Center was so accommodating and willing to make the pieces work the best they could in the spaces I selected," she said.

While some pieces have proven more popular than others, no one can deny the imagination expressed by the exhibit. The task force plans to post an online catalog in the near future. "I'm happy that the task force picked some pieces that are cutting-edge," Biggs said. "Science and art aren't that different at some levels. Artists are always stepping off the edge to see what's on the other side and good scientists do the same thing."

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Highlights of the Cornish College of the Arts exhibition

• "Pull" by Russ Anderson. Large wooden cabinet containing chimes. Located on Level D. View the interior mechanism, which incorporates car engine parts, from stairway above.
• "The Game" by Ryan Higgins. Rows and columns of pastel pennies hanging from hooks. Located in the Level D elevator lobby. Passersby can purchase pennies for a posted price. All proceeds go to the Hutchinson Center.
• "A Dialogue With The Inescapable" by Tatjana Pavicevic. An oil painting that reflects the artist's childhood in Bosnia. Located in the Level 4 elevator lobby.
• "Piece O" by Robert Howells. Located in the Level 2 elevator lobby. A very large yellow canvas that curves away from the walls creating an interesting optical illusion.

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