The reach of Sac State’s art faculty isn’t limited to just the campus. Exhibitions by professors and instructors are being staged throughout Northern California and beyond, bringing international recognition not only to the faculty artist, but to the University as well.Just a small sampling of Art Department faculty reveals that Sac State’s footing in the larger art world is a solid one.
Sculpture professor Robert Ortbal’s “Neverland” exhibition will run at the Traywick Contemporary gallery this summer. Past shows include exhibits and installations in San Francisco, Miami, Fla., and Philadelphia.
Still in the development stage, “Neverland” references the Peter Pan story and will combine elements from everyday life into forms that are fresh and new. “I’m very interested in trying to describe spaces and places that are beyond our physical perception,” Ortbal says.
Ian Harvey, who teaches painting and drawing, had an exhibition of collaborative works he created with his wife, Koo Kyung Sook, this past April at the Kunst Doc Gallery in Seoul, South Korea. In May the work was also included in an exhibition at the Kyunggiddo Museum of Art in Seoul.
Their work previously was staged at Sac State’s Library Gallery in December and January. And the couple was featured on the cover of California’s Artweek magazine, which also reviewed the show. From there the work was seen by directors and curators at Kunst Doc. “One thing leads to the next,” Harvey says in explaining the process.
Art historian Pattaratorn Chirapravati, director of Sac State’s Asian Studies Program, is co-curating “Bangkok and Mandalay,” an exhibit of items from Burma and Thailand for the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. It will run there from mid-October 2009 to February 2010, and travel the country after that.
When Sarah Flohr isn’t teaching drawing and painting or working in the studio, you can find her exhibiting works at the National Centre for Contemporary Art in Moscow or Stuttgart.
Those exhibitions came about from the contacts Flohr made living abroad and grants she received to undertake the projects. Last year’s show in Moscow has led to another project in Russia next spring, photographing the architecture of sacred sites. This summer Flohr is teaching in France.
Getting out of the Sacramento area and reaching a larger audience can certainly be rewarding in practical terms for some artists, increasing their sales. But these four professors note their work doesn’t necessarily lend itself to art buyers. Most patrons are looking for more traditional works.
Just the fact the work is being shared on a larger scale is satisfactory by itself. “It’s a chance for my work to be seen by a wider audience, to have critics coming from all different parts of the world,” Flohr says.
When an artist works in a larger medium, such as installations, reaching a larger audience may result in more exhibitions, if the audience responds positively to your work, Ortbal says. “I’m interested in having a dialogue with the community and the audience to sort of push and pull my ideas apart,” he says.
Working as a professor also provides the “day job” needed to maintain artistic freedom without worrying whether the work is commercially viable. But exhibiting does require a lot of legwork, such as coordinating the shipment of art pieces and organizing the paper work.
“I have to be able to organize all those things,” Flohr says. “You have to be your own manager.”
Ortbal echoes that sentiment. “As an artist you wear many different hats,” he says. “You’re comfortable with some of the hats, with others, you’re not.”
Chirapravati uses her experience to stage campus exhibits with her students, who learn all about curating— from applying for a grant, to writing labels and contacting the artists. “My reward is when I see my students go out and get really good jobs,” she says. “That means a lot to me.”
The experience of exhibiting and curating is also taught to the students so they get to know the business side of the art world. “I spend a great deal of my time helping the students prepare for that type of venture,” Ortbal says.
Observing their professors creating and exhibiting their own works also has indirect but still valuable impacts on the students. “They’re able to see us as professionals, juggling a life and trying to be artists while maintaining our responsibilities to them,” Harvey says.
“The more I’m in my studio, the better I am in front of the students,” Flohr says. “There’s an ease about teaching that comes when you’re completely involved in your own work.”
Exhibits not only increase the artist’s reputation, they also enhance the prestige of Sac State. Harvey sees the faculty artists as ambassadors. “I’m an emissary for the University whether I’m going to the grocery store or whether I’m in Seoul,” he says.
The faculty artists also appreciate the University’s support and funding of arts projects and exhibits.
Harvey points to his and Koo’s exhibition as an example. “That project started here, with a Summer Fellowship grant from the University, because I am a faculty member,” he says.
And when you ask them the most rewarding aspects of creating, exhibiting and curating, it’s not any financial benefit, or even the recognition and acclaim they might reap from their efforts. It’s the work itself.
“The process of making things is fundamental for me,” Ortbal says. “It’s really essential for helping me discover and decode who I am. It makes me more human.”