Malone University Visual Art and Creative Writing Students Collaborate on Sixth Annual RSVP Exhibit

The Fountain Gallery will feature the sixth annual R.S.V.P.: A Visual Art and Writing Exchange through March 11, 2016. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, January 28 from 4-6 p.m. with authors reading from their works and a short discussion starting at 4 p.m. The Fountain Gallery is located on the Malone University Campus in the the Johnson Center for Worship and the Fine Arts. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. through 6 p.m.

R.S.V.P. is a collaborative project between the Visual Arts and the Language and Literature Departments of Malone University. The project involves ten students, five visual artists and five writers. Participants are randomly paired in artist/writer duos. Each student gave the other one of their creations: a piece of art or a piece of writing. Each then created a new response in their own medium to the piece recieved. The resulting exhibit explores creativity in its diverse forms. Participating student artists include: Johanna E. Baun, Alicia Green, Meghan Green, Joah Miller, Caylie Mindling. Participating student authors include: Marissa Bennett, Riley Gable, Joshua Grubbs, Denise Huthmacher, and Caylie Mindling.

Corresponding Written Work Created in Response, Never, Never by Marissa Bennett

In the Rust Belt of our youth
We beg to become exotic,
To trade our skin for a reconfigured pattern,
To decompose ourselves into a base desire:
Feet off the ground and soaring
With other Lost Boys
Children forever but happy
Among the constellation islands,
The frothy stratus clouds
That pool around our ankles
And smooth our cheeks
Into an iridescent softness.

But we are reality bound.
The heavens are the thing farthest from us
Ornate and juxtaposed
By iron skeletons
Jutting up imposingly against a stillwater
Sky gone smoky with exhaust.
Between the clouds we can catch a glimpse
Of the sapphire promise,
A galaxy lying in wait
For those of us
Not afraid to fly.  

Original Written Work, Cobalt, by Denise Huthmacher

A rotten tangerine splats his juice in my face
In spite of it, I lay with him that evening inside the museum.
In an igloo I fell asleep to the sounds
Of his ukulele and Italian songs.

We swam in the
Lake as the cerulean man carried
A fishing pole and a 5gallon bucket.
I have tried to reign supreme, but have fallen short.

On my bookshelf thumbing through Faulkner and Gogal
I told him I loved him.
His lapis blue eyes crumbling between the pages
He is what I make him to be. 

Corresponding Artwork Created in Response, Cobalt, by Alicia Green, Digital Illustration

Located on 96 rolling acres in Canton, Ohio, Malone University is comprised of the College of Theology, Arts, and Sciences; the School of Education and Human Development; the School of Business and Leadership; and the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Malone is a Christian university for the arts, sciences, and professions in the liberal arts tradition, affiliated with the Evangelical Friends Church, offering 41 majors, 42 minors, and 11 graduate programs. Nationally, Malone University is ranked in the top four percent of colleges and universities in career outcomes, top 10 (#9) best online financial aid packages, and top 50 (#30) most affordable Christian colleges. Regionally, U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2015 ranks Malone University among the top colleges and universities in the Midwest in the category Regional Universities, and to its list of best online bachelor’s programs. Statewide, Malone appears on the list of colleges offering the best lifetime return on investment in Ohio. Malone University has been recognized by the prestigious Templeton Foundation as a leader in character development, as a military-friendly school by Victory Media, and as one of Northeast Ohio’s top workplaces by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Take a virtual tour of Malone University.