With Rusty Robison’s ‘The Poetry Wheel,’ Juan Felipe Herrera’s words become a poem of your own in Fresno State faculty show
The biannual Fresno State faculty art show at the Phebe Conley Art Gallery, now on display through Friday, Sept. 23, is a reminder of the depth of talent and wide interests of the university’s art educators teaching in the Department of Art, Design and Art History. I love the fact that professors put themselves out there in terms of their own work for their students — and the rest of the world — to see.
The work on display features a broad range in media: Mixed media sculpture, ceramic sculpture, multimedia, 2-D mixed media, painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, and 2-D digital work.
The lineup includes such names as Nick Potter, Lisa Spoors, Stephanie Bradshaw, Laura Meyer, William Raines and more.
Ashley Flowers has a good article on the show in The Collegian.
One of my favorite pieces is Rusty Robison’s “The Poetry Wheel,” which allows visitors to create their own poem by dragging and dropping random words into a circle on an iPad. Former U.S. poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera collaborated with Robison by recording the words with his characteristic flair for dramatic performance.
The experience is surprisingly addictive.
Here’s a close-up video view of the piece in the gallery:
“The Poetry Wheel” can also be accessed online.
The faculty art show is free (but you have to pay for Fresno State parking). The gallery entrance is in the courtyard of the Conley Art Building. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m.