Q&A: Emily Mantel and OHIO Art Galleries
By Thalia Badio, Contributor
Although its is not widely known, OU has a large selection of art galleries open for students to enjoy and frequent. The galleries encourage new viewers and even participants to come and take part in the Ohio University Art Program. Emily Mantel, intern for the Ohio University Art Galleries, was happy to answer ACRN Media's questions about upcoming projects.
When were the two galleries established and who are they named after?
Ohio University Art Gallery is located on the fifth floor of Seigfred Hall, which was built in 1962 and was the largest arts building in the United States at the time. It originally was named "The Space Arts Building,” and in 1966 the building was renamed Seigfred Hall. Seigfred Hall was named in honor of Earl Covert Seigfred, a native of Seneca Falls, NY and the first Ohio University Dean of the College of Fine Arts, serving in that position for 25 years. The gallery is a 2,500 square foot exhibition space, and hosts three to five exhibitions per year.
Trisolini Gallery is located on the fourth floor of Baker Center. Prior to this, it was located on East Union Street in the Trisolini House, which lends its name to the Trisolini gallery. The building Trisolini was named after Anthony G. Trisolini, chair of the Department of Comparative Arts and Dean of the College of Fine Arts in 1974. The art gallery moved to the new Baker Center in 2007. This relocation to the epicenter of the university attracts wider audiences to the gallery.
Admission to both galleries is free and open to the public.
What type of media do you feature in the galleries? (i.e paintings, sculptures, video)
The galleries provide facilities to accommodate various media for exhibitions, including ceramics, digital imaging, drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and installations. Projectors and sound equipment also enable us to feature videos, such as Stefen Sagmeister’s Now Is Better, recently featured in the Trisolini gallery.
What is the atmosphere that each of these galleries exude? What do you want students to feel when they enter the Trisolini or Seigfred galleries?
We encourage students to take advantage of the opportunities that the art galleries provide, both art and non-art majors, to experience artworks from peers, local artists, and visiting artists. We want the galleries to maintain a professionalism that is expected from an art gallery, but also be a relaxed environment where people can enjoy the variety of artworks that are on display. The exhibitions and events keep viewers aware of the culture and creativity here at Ohio University and in Athens. The many successful exhibitions we have held exemplifies our strong connections with artists and organizations around the world, the talented individuals we have right here at the university, and our devotion to promoting the arts.
Whose artwork is displayed? That of graduate students? Undergraduates?
Trisolini Gallery hosts invitational exhibitions of national and international artists and in the spring semester presents Graduate and BFA student thesis exhibitions.
The Seigfred gallery hosts exhibitions of visiting artists, graduate and undergraduate students, and local artists, in addition to a Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibitions every year in the spring semester. We also hold juried exhibitions, such as the Undergraduate Juried Exhibition that is held every year, in which the jurors are often visiting artists.
For those interested, the Art Galleries on Campus will be featuring several new and interesting attractions, you're welcome to come take a look. The Seigfred and Trisolini Galleries are open Monday - Saturday from 10-4.
Trisolini Gallery:
1. A Sense of Place: the contemporary and the vernacular- artworks made in Hungary and Romania- October 20- November 14, 2015.
2. Exhibition: BFA Thesis, Becky Sirc (Painting) and Kelly Johnson (Ceramic)
- December 1st -5, 2015
3. First Year Graduate show- January 12- February 21, 2016
Seigfred Gallery:
1. Undergraduate Juried Exhibition 2015- November 12- December 5, 2015.
2. Chicago Paints- January 12th - February 20, 2016
For more information:
