Presence v. Absence: The unrestricting theme to this year’s art event

Written by: Nathan Kernell, assistant editor

DAYTON, Tenn.—Creatively unrestricting is the best way to describe this year’s art event put on by the Department of Leadership and Culture for February 15. Student art will be displayed through any medium, and interpretation is completely left up to the artist. 

This year’s theme of Presence vs. Absence leaves the art to the artist and allows for creativity to flourish. 

“However people are creative, we want to enable that,” said event organizer Julia Jones. “Whatever medium people want to be creative through, we will do our best to find a way to display that.” 

The event’s history goes back six years and stems from a gap in Bryan’s curriculum. As art classes began to diminish, students were left without an outlet for art to be both created and displayed. The goal of this event is to inspire that creativity and love of the arts that has been lacking in some areas. 

“I think it’s really easy to get stuck in the busyness of life and not see the beauty that’s around you,”  Jones added. “We just want to remind people that there is beauty around them, but also that they are creative beings.” 

As a way to aid in the creation of student art, members of the Department of Leadership and Culture are hosting prep tables open to the students that are stocked full of supplies to get the creative process flowing. The tables will be open various times Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Mercer. 

Additionally, the event is also working in partnership with an organization in Dayton called “Paint the Town.” The organization offers Bryan students the chance to create art and learn about artistic practices that may be unfamiliar to some. The opportunity comes free of charge as students are invited to visit the Paint the Town Pottery shop and experiment with various mediums including pottery, metalworking and photography. 

Works are due for submission by February 13, with the event premiering on February 15 in the cafeteria, starting at 7 p.m. A special live performance section of the event will begin at 8:15, featuring works including poetry, spoken word and music.

Nathan Kernell is a junior majoring in Communications with a focus in Digital Media. He enjoys playing on the baseball team and also playing guitar. Nathan has always enjoyed writing so it only seemed fitting to pursue that path in college.