Last week Research On the Road motored down Route 80 to the Big Apple for two events. The concept of both? Simply this: a number of our School of Visual Arts faculty members live and work in NYC, regularly traveling to Penn State to teach.  We thought it would be inspiring to shine a spotlight on a few of these commuting teacher-artists and introduce the public (alumni and non-alums, alike) to a taste of their diverse artistic styles and themes.

The first event featured Penn State professor of art Helen O’Leary, giving a presentation on her work as part of the  “Artist’s Talk” series at the venerable Art Students League of New  York.  Founded in 1875, the League has been instrumental in shaping America’s legacy in the fine arts. The list of their famous students and teachers is nothing short of a Who’s Who of American Artists. (If you’re interested, this short film about the League’s storied history is fascinating!)

O’Leary’s talk was titled “Serenity and Abandon:  Drawing on the Physical and Emotional Landscapes of Ireland.”

 As the title suggests, she discussed what it was like growing up in rural Ireland, and how the physical and emotional landscapes of that homeland have influenced the themes and aesthetics of her artwork.

In particular, Helen spoke of the impact of her life experiences on her work: the beauty of her family’s seaside farm in County Wexford and her mother’s fierce determination to keep the farm going after Helen’s father’s tragic death.

Helen emphasized the way certain themes and values of her childhood still permeate her work today. Among other things, her art conveys an appreciation of craft and craftmanship, a love of tools, structures and supports, and a celebration of the creative—and, at times, tragicomic—ways people “make do and get by” in life under difficult circumstances.

The talk was attended by about 30 to 35 people  who were riveted by Helen’s hour-long presentation. The volley of questions and answers with attendees at the end included a brief discussion about how Irish writers, including Samuel Beckett and James Joyce, have portrayed their native country. These bright and quirky moments of audience dialogue were (to me, a native New  Yorker) so quintessentially New York that it was a perfect end-note to a stimulating evening at the Art Students League.

The following evening Helen was joined by two other NYC-based Penn State colleagues—assistant professors Rudy Shepherd and Brian Alfred—for a talk and reception at Mixed Greens, the Chelsea gallery that represents Rudy Shepherd.

Thirty or so attendees mixed and mingled in the loft-like gallery space before the talks got started.

Brian Alfred spoke first. A Penn State alumnus himself and a former student of Helen O’Leary’s (as was Mixed Greens director, Heather Darcy Bhandari) Brian had just returned from Art Basel Miami Beach, an international art show for modern and contemporary works, where his animation work titled “UNDER thunder AND Fluorescent LIGHTS” was selected for exhibition both inside the Miami Beach Convention Center and outside on a 7000-square-foot projection wall of the Frank Gehry designed New World Center in SoundScape Park.

 

As a Penn State article on Brian explains, “Under Thunder and Florescent Lights, which was scored in collaboration with the artist and the band Storm & Stress, is in line with Alfred’s current work, which has themes of auto racing, globalism, transportation, and speed as a starting point.”

In response to audience questions, Brian also discussed his passion for integrating music into his work, as well as the success of his self-taught animation pieces in large-scale public art installations . For instance, his animation “Help Me” was featured on the Times Square NBC Astrovision screen as part of Creative Time’s 59th Minute, and a documentary about Alfred, called ArtFlick 001, was featured at the Sundance Film Festival.

Next to speak was Rudy Shepherd. Like his colleagues, Shepherd works in a lot of different media, including sculpture, drawing, painting, video and performance.  Originally intending to become a doctor, Shepherd took a sculpture class in his Junior year at Wake Forest University and his passion for art was ignited.

Rudy’s recent work is often inspired by world events as reported in the news. Rather than being dogmatic or distancing, his political art is approachable, emotionally engaging and hopeful.

One example of the intention behind his work is his series of public sculptures called The Black Rock Negative Energy Absorbers. As this article points out, Shepherd’s hope is for these works to “to expunge negative energy—which may come in the form of prejudice, racism, or even quotidian disdain” —from the people walking by the piece. His goal, he has said, was to create “moments of collective reflection” that would help humanize and heal.

This video from his Disaster Fatigue solo show gives a feel for the impact of his recent work:

Last to speak was Helen O’Leary.  In this setting, she shared more about  the effects of the economic crisis in Ireland after the banking boom of the 90s and her quest to document its impact on the Irish people and landscape.  In addition to her recent work, she also shared some images that were part of her collaboration with her daughter, photographer Eva O’Leary.

I hope you’ll take a moment to watch this video of Helen describing the themes of her work, including survival, inventiveness, armor, and a literal and metaphorical process of unraveling and reclaiming the raw material of art and life.

While the crowd for this gallery event wasn’t as grand as our packed concert hall in Nashville last month, it was convivial and intimate—the perfect scale for three personal and engaging presentations by the artists and for attendees to chat and really connect with the artists and with one another during the reception.

Thank you to photographer Matt Weinstein who attended the event and allowed me to use some of his wonderful shots here!

Warm thanks go out to Brian, Helen and Rudy for their involvement with our first, but hopefully not last, Research On the Road event in New York City. It was a treat for all who attended to meet and listen to all three of you, and together you powerfully represented the high calibre of talented and dedicated faculty in our School of Visual Arts.

After logging many miles across New England, the South, and the Empire State this semester, Research On the Road will cool our heels here in State College briefly during the holidays, but we’re already hard at work planning some intriguing public engagement events for spring semester. Which Penn State faculty members will be in the spotlight next? You’ll have to wait until the new year to find out. Happy holidays to all!