Students portray the American city in new light within student selected art exhibit

Paintings, photographs and other unique works of art depicting the everyday life of an American now display proudly at the Jule Collins Smith Art Museum because of the vision of Auburn students. Starting Nov. 7 through Nov. 24, the art museum will play host to an exhibit put together by Auburn students a part of Dr. Emily Burns’ Art of the U.S. class.

Fitting with the topic of the class with their exhibit, Lillian-Catherine Seemann, senior in art history and anthropology, said, “We chose works from the early 20th century mostly, and since the class is Arts of the U.S., all of the works are by American artists."

Seemann said there are all different mediums that deal with the idea of the American city and the people who dwell there including the visitors and the residents.

Seeman said “Donkey Engine” by Gregorio Prestopino was her favorite in the collection. “I like how the medium [gouache] reflects the flatness of the image and I also love how the notion of immigration to the city is reflected physically across the room with another painting. It takes a slightly darker approach to our topic, and I think that is unique in the collection,” Seeman said.

Sarah Webb, senior in art history, said the works are meant to portray cities in a new light. “Each work takes a unique perspective on the city as a tourist destination, a home, a place of loneliness, a place of prosperity or a new beginning,” Webb said.

Webb said each piece in the exhibit was chosen carefully to ensure they all fit together.

“We chose to explore this theme specifically to take a critical look into the modern American city. We really wanted to transport museum visitors into the city and take them on a tour through each new perspective and medium,” Webb said.

This exhibit was the first time for many of the students in Burns’ class to create an entire art exhibit. They worked together to choose pieces for the exhibit with the help of their professor and other professionals.

Seemann said, “We are very thankful for all of the support the JCSM, our professor, our department, and the local curators at other museums have shown us thus far. We would love to have more people come out and see it.”

In addition to putting together the exhibit, the students in Burns’ class will give a talk on the exhibit Thursday, Nov. 16. The talk will be an extended Little Art Talk where a piece in the collection is highlighted. This talk will begin at 5 p.m and will conclude with a question and answer session with the audience.