Splendid!

Friday night was opening night for K’s BFA gallery show.  All the undergraduates receiving their Bachelor’s of Fine Arts this May participate in the show.  (There are some other avenues for those in the writing program and the performance areas, too.)

K started planning this in the fall and worked so very hard these last many weeks preparing for her show.  

Each student (230) had a piece of wall and the area around it.  She & her friend, Steffany, found their walls were using like colors so they went in early and could get a prime location and miss the lottery selection process by agreeing to be next to each other.  It was really a great spot!  Their area was along the outside wall of windows and at the corner of a row so we had extra area to step back and watch.  

The watching from afar was quite entertaining and fascinating.  To see the girls interact with those viewing their displays, with each other, and with their friends stopping by was so fun for Phil & me!

We arrived and had parked by 3:35 p.m. and walked a block to where K was finishing her Friday class.  We got to meet her favorite teacher & great mentor!  It was wonderful!  Of course, he filled our ears with how wonderful our daughter is so we will bask in that for awhile if you don’t mind.  🙂   He has been a super help to K and it was good to tell him how much we appreciate it.  

We went to a nearby restaurant while K hustled back to her room about 3 blocks away.  She quickly freshened and changed and met us at the restaurant.  

Then back to the building for the gallery opening.  From 5 – 7 p.m. , faculty and the seniors were allowed for the preview showing.  K was allowed to bring in 2 guests and we were honored to be there!  It was nice to be able to see some of the works before it was opened to the public.  

We were able to meet Steffany (R) and her grandparents (from MI) along with their friend, Emma (L) and her parents (from NY).  It was interesting to watch the girls and we enjoyed visiting with the families too.  

There were tables of appetizers, desserts, and drinks scattered through out the gallery so we had a few samples as we found Emma’s work and Beth & Kyle’s space.  Beth is K’s senior RA and Kyle is an RA, too.

Steffany designed and printed this wallpaper (the green diamonds in the background of a lot of pictures) on fabric using screen printing.  The images are fruits!  THEN she coated the wallpaper/fabric somehow with a fragrance blend that smelled like fruit punch so she had sniffable wall paper!  It was a riot to watch people read her title card, you could see the ? in their head, and then actually smell the wall.  Many took pictures of each other smelling the wall.  

The title of K’s work was “Everything but the kitchen sink bag.”  Playing off the common phrase of women packing everything but the kitchen sink, she designed kitchen sink bags!   She did the whole thing… from design, to pattern making trial & error, to cutting, and sewing all the bags.   She had 9 bags in her 3 colors and in 3 sizes, all had pink zippers, and all had a gray lining that she had hand dyed to coordinate.  A variety of fabrics were used for the outside of the bags: vinyl, canvas, and suede.  

She then sent her dear dad the drawings of her idea for a display rack.  Phil welded the base and fit the pipe pieces together to her specifics.   It was designed for her to be able to take apart and set back up.   She painted it in the weeks proceeding set-up.  Only when a plumber stopped Friday night to talk about her bags (he was thrilled she featured his occupation!) did the whole pipe relation to the sinks actually “sink” in.  🙂  

Sometimes people would just walk by and be puzzled because they hadn’t looked up to read her title (we so nicely painted) on the wall.  Others would see the bags, wonder, then read the title, and smile!  

Here are a variety of pictures from K’s spot.

Business card holder

 

Interview with the school paper

 

There were still a lot of people looking around as 10 p.m. neared and many just hanging out with their student or friend.   Security let us know it was time to leave at 10.   We had our coats in K’s locker and they let us leave that way out the other doors.  

We met Steffany outside and shared a pizza together at K’s old stompin’ grounds, Pizano’s.   We headed back to the car while the girls headed to their rooms.  We arrived at our hotel at midnight!  Too bad we didn’t have much time to enjoy the niceness but it was quiet.  🙂

On the way home on Saturday, Phil & I continued to enjoy the experience of Friday night.  It was just wonderful!  Many of K’s friends came to congratulate her and one even made her a card.   It was quite a night for all of the seniors.  

Another time I’ll show you some of the general pictures around the gallery.  

And yes, the one in Headwear II designed and made her cocktail hat for the occasion.  🙂