The faces of women who have inspired change in the 21st century are on display at the Harn Museum of Art.
These women are part of an exhibition open from Aug. 23 to Jan. 5 that highlights studio faculty work from UF’s School of Art + Art History.
The 53rd SA+AH Studio Art Exhibition is an annual joint effort from faculty to share their art with students, colleagues and the Gainesville community, said Dulce Román, the curator of the exhibition. This year is the Harn’s sixth time hosting the show.
The exhibit as a whole is meant to honor the diversity of faculty and their shared goal of fostering learning, innovation and creativity.
“A broad range of mediums is represented in the exhibition including sculptures, paintings, drawings, photographs, ceramics, fiber arts, mixed-media, video and installations,” she said.
The free exhibit is open Tuesday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.
Lisa Iglesias, an assistant professor and director of graduate studies in the School of Art + Art History, is one of the 25 faculty artists featured in the exhibit, Roman said.
Roman said she was excited to have Iglesias’ installation, “Groundwork,” in the exhibition as it is the only work in the exhibition involving pencil on paper.
“Groundwork” is Iglesias’ open-ended research project and series of drawn portraits of people who have contributed to movements for social justice, Iglesias said. The aim of the project was to commemorate the work done by women in the U.S. in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
“I channel the power of art in constructing new realities, the privileges of being able to be an artist and educator in this world, the pleasure of making objects, the radical importance of nurturing connections between ideas and people and the potentials that lie within sitting quietly, labor and interaction,” Iglesias said.
She said she will continue her work as an artist, teacher and individual and collective cultural producer and try to increase the ways with which she sees ideas to grow as a listener, ally and collaborator for social justice.
Iglesias’ teaching career began in the College of the Arts in 2014, Iglesias said. She is a two-time winner of her college’s Teacher of the Year Award and focuses her efforts on the UF community, in addition to the Harn.
“My role as teacher for my students is a big part of my life –– a part that I respect and try to do really well, everyday,” Iglesias said.
Brett Taylor, a 22-year-old UF alum and former student of Iglesias, has been able to take the skills he learned in her classroom and apply it to his work as a graduate assistant at Ohio State University.
“Generosity is one of the biggest things I learned in Lisa Iglesias’s classes,” Taylor said. “Practicing generosity stretches far beyond the walls of the classroom and allows for productive change.”
This story was updated to reflect the name of the College of the Arts. The Alligator previously reported differently.
