EUGENE, Ore.—The Lane Community College Art Gallery opens two exhibits October 29:
- “Thou Art…, Will Give…” features the work of New York photographer and book artist Eric Kunsman. A reception will be held Thursday, Nov. 8, from 5-6:30 p.m., in the Main Art Gallery.
- “Gongfu Cha: A Celebration of Tea” features a selection of ceramic teaware for the gongfu tea ceremony made by various artists selected by LCC ceramics instructor Jonathan Steel. A reception will be held on Thursday, Nov. 15, from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Roger Hall Gallery.
Erik Kunsman Exhibit
In 2003, while an assistant professor of photography at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, NJ, Erik Kunsman visited Eastern State Penitentiary with his students, presenting them with the opportunity to photograph an abandoned prison where “the light and feeling of abandonment really gave off a sense that the penitentiary might still be inhabited by ghosts and spirits.” Yet, it was a chance discovery of the Eastern State Warden’s Logbook at the American Philosophical Society which set Kunsman on a new path of exploration, this time as a student himself at the University of Arts in Philadelphia. Inspired by the humanity displayed within the logbooks, where the warden told of the prisoners’ families, their guilt (or lack thereof) towards their crimes, and even if they could read or write, Kunsman found life in the now derelict prison. The logbooks opened up an unfamiliar world where “through [the warden’s] words, the space now felt inhabited and connected to deep emotions infused with new meanings.” The exhibit features images of the abandoned penitentiary side-by-side with images of the warden’s logbooks. Kunsman lectures on visual communications at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and teaches at the School of Photographic Arts & Sciences, both at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
Gongfu Cha: A Celebration of Tea Exhibit
LCC ceramics instructor Jonathan Steel organized the invitational exhibit of selected teaware for gongfu cha made by various artists. Pieces include teapots, gaiwan, hohin, shiboridashi, cups, and vessels for storing and dumping spent tea leaves. Believed to have originated in the Wuyi Mountains of China, a region famous for its oolong tea, gongfu cha refers to the way of making tea, placing importance on the quality of utensils used and the ceremony. The ceremony includes the sharing of the aroma of the tea to be used with your guests, boiling water for the heating of the pot, the tea cups, and the making of the tea, and finally the serving of the tea. This style asks one to be aware of the aroma, taste, and appearance of the tea and how it affects one's mind and consciousness. A reception will be held Thursday, Nov. 15, from 4:30-6:00 p.m. in the gallery.
The Lane Art Gallery is located in building 11 on main campus, 4000 E. 30th Ave., Eugene, and includes two adjacent exhibit spaces, the Main Art Gallery and the Roger Hall Gallery. The galleries are open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call LCC Art and Applied Design at (541) 463-5419.
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Lane Community College educates over 25,000 students annually at six locations across Lane County and online. Students and alumni from all 50 states and 79 countries create more than an $850 million dollar impact on the local economy, helping to support more than 13,000 local jobs. Lane provides affordable, quality, professional technical and college transfer programs; business development and employee training; academic, language and life skills development; and lifelong personal development and enrichment courses.