A Portfolio Day at ESU

The East Stroudsburg University of PA (ESU) Art Department held an Artists’ Reception on Wednesday April 23rd for their Senior Seminar and Portfolio in Art Student Exhibition presented in the Madelon Powers Gallery which is located within the campus’ Fine and Performing Arts Building. The creative endeavors of the university’s art students who concentrate their talents in the discipline of graphic art and design were showcased. Their outstanding achievements were displayed in a manner made most attractive to those who would consider engaging them in designing their promotional material.

While previous exhibits throughout the years did well in providing the students with a sense of how their talents could serve them in the market place, this year’s exhibit seemed to focus less on the commercial applications of their skills and more on the pure creativity which goes beyond the desire to merely make money. This is not to say the desire to create images reflecting the essence of the artist’s soul wasn’t present in the work shown in the previous Senior Seminar and Portfolio in Art Student Exhibitions as they most certainly were. It is merely an observation that such desires to place the individual creative nature of the artist in a more prominent position than that of the economic viability of the work seemed to be more pronounced than earlier exhibitions. In any case, the work presented by the art students of ESU proved to be impressive as the overall beauty of the exhibit touched an aesthetic chord in those who were fortunate enough to experience it.

In addition to presenting the works in graphic art and design of the ESU Art Students, the reception also partook of an opportunity to honor students whose love for the arts in all its disciplines were demonstrated through their academic and creative achievements throughout their time at the university. The ESU Foundation presented their Excellence in the Arts Awards to these talented students who received a certificate expressing the university’s appreciation for their talents and a scholarship to assist them in furthering their academic endeavors in the area they choose. This semester’s recipients were Brandon Cabrera in the area of Theatre, Michelle Zbinden in the area of Dance, Lindsay Godin in the area of the Visual Arts, and Marcus Howard in the area of Music. Additional awards were given to students who exhibited special proficiency or achievements in the arts. They included Tara Leach and Thomas Spataro who received the Cecilia S. Cohen Art Endowed Scholarship for their endeavors in the study of Art History along with Christy Flynn and Summer Smith who received the Three Sisters Scholarship Award which was established by Dr. Irene Mitchel, Professor Emeritus of the ESU Art Department, and given in honor of her sisters Helen Mitchel Stetz and Mary Mitchel Kurello.

In addition to the work being presented in the main gallery, an exhibit of images depicting endangered species were on display in the venue’s upstairs gallery. The work proved to be a clever example in irony as the drawn images of the creatures in question were composed of fragments of the industrialized structures that threaten their continued existence. The work was expertly done and made the point of the concept well. You’ll find more photographs taken during the ESU Artists’ Reception in The ESU 2014 Gallery at www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152286011965421.1073741883.636000420&type=1.

The ESU Art Department’s Senior Seminar and Portfolio in Art Student Exhibition will continue to be on display at The Madelon Powers Gallery which is located in The Fine and Performing Arts Building on the ESU Campus until May 6th. The exhibit is the final one scheduled to take place on the campus of East Stroudsburg University for the 2013/2014 Academic year. The first exhibit to take place during the 2014/2015 Academic year is yet to be announced. Please contact The East Stroudsburg University Art Department at Esuarts@esu.edu for more information.