OHIO WESLEYAN STUDENTS CURATE ART EXHIBIT ‘Many Faces, Many Stories’ Opens May 3 with Public Reception

DELAWARE, Ohio – They’ve researched, budgeted, curated, designed, prepared, installed, and helped to publicize Ohio Wesleyan University’s newest art exhibit.  And the OWU students – all enrolled in a fine arts “exhibition practice” course – will open their exhibit with a public reception May 3.  Titled “Many Faces, Many Stories,” the exhibit will run from May 3 through June 9 in Gallery 2001, a satellite of Ohio Wesleyan’s Richard M. Ross Art Museum. The reception will be held from 4:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 3 in the gallery, located inside Beeghly Library, 45 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Gallery 2001’s hours coincide with library hours and are available online at www.owu.edu/library.  Erin Fletcher, director of OWU’s Richard M. Ross Art Museum, teaches the semester-long exhibition practice course, which includes a combination of museum history, theory, and hands-on skills for developing exhibitions.  “This class draws on Ohio Wesleyan’s theory-to-practice ideology,” Fletcher said, “and I have truly enjoyed watching students from the arts, the sciences, and the humanities come together, using campus collections, to develop an exhibition. Their intelligence, diligence, and creative abilities are beautifully on display.”  First-year student Thalia Sallas-Brookwell of Los Angeles, California, said the class ties in directly with her future career plans.  “I’m interested in a future career in museum education or some type of work that combines art and creativity with community outreach,” said Sallas-Brookwell, an art history major and women’s and gender studies minor.  “We’ve studied a lot about museum management and have been able to practice the concepts we learned when planning ‘Many Faces, Many Stories,’ ” she continued. “I’m proud of our class’s hard work and can’t wait for our opening reception.”  Evelynn Wyatt, a senior from Louisville, Kentucky, also appreciated the collaborative class dynamic in planning the exhibition.  “As a person who prefers working on her own to set and accomplish goals,” said Wyatt, a double major in biology and English, “collaborating with six other students was an incredibly challenging, yet rewarding experience. Though we didn’t always agree with one another, we learned to compromise from a place of mutual respect and understanding.”  The final exhibit features items from Ohio Wesleyan’s permanent collection and included collaboration with local artist Nick Stull and The Page Collective artist collaboration group. Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan’s Ross Art Museum at www.owu.edu/ross and more about the university’s fine arts major, including the exhibition practice course at www.owu.edu/finearts.