Exhibition celebrates McDaniel's artistic legacy

The Carroll County Arts Council is hosting an exhibition through Feb. 23 showcasing work by seven current and emeriti members of McDaniel’s studio art faculty, along with the work of six former students who were greatly inspired by their teaching to become professional artists.

“Legacy: Celebrating 150 Years of the Fine Arts at McDaniel College” celebrates mentorships and multiple forms of artistic expression in paintings, sculpture, metalsmithing, illustration, ceramic art and photography.

“I could fill that little gallery with wonderful work by a bunch of folks — I think we all could,” says Sue Bloom, professor emerita of art, who retired last spring. She ultimately decided to invite Jessica Boehman ’99 to show her finely detailed, colored-pencil illustrations with a touch of the fantastical. Boehman, associate professor of Art at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, N.Y., earned a Ph.D. in art history from University of Pennsylvania, studied for a year in Rome on a Fulbright, and is also a practicing illustrator whose first children’s book will be published this summer.

“It’s really a very touching show” says Boehman. “The book I’m working on now about an adventure the New York Public Library lions take at night is a mix of hand-drawn and digital techniques I first learned in Sue’s class. Looking back on it, it’s funny the long reach these professors have.”

Professor Emeritus of Art Wasyl Palijczuk chose to show work infused with his Ukrainian heritage in painting and sculpture. Two of his pieces prove that he was upcycling discarded items way before it was fashionable — a unique mailbox and a sculpture carved from an old discarded newel post. He is the exhibitor with perhaps the largest sphere of influence in the show. He not only taught Boehman, but instructor Linda Van Hart ’68, whose work features Heart Armor sculptures and jewelry; Ellen Von Dehson Elmes ’69, whose work infuses the uniqueness of Wasyl's painting style into watercolor images of bucolic landscapes and multiple images that tell a story; and Aaron Heisler ’99.

Heisler, who was invited to participate by Van Hart, earned an M.F.A. from Savannah College of Art & Design and teaches industrial arts there. His work combines unique woods with forged metal to create unique and whimsical home decor. He enjoys featuring the way things work by adding playful gears and levers and pulleys to his work.

Bobby Coleman ’09, whose non-representational abstract paintings in soft colors incorporate strips of wood and drawn imagery, was invited to be in the show by his mentor, art professor Steven Pearson, also an abstract painter. Coleman earned his M.F.A. from American University in 2011.

Colin Donnelly ’13 was invited by his former instructor Ken Hankins to show his wood-fired sake cups and detailed small plates reminiscent of Ancient Greek design. Instructor Walter P. Calahan invited mentee Dan Glusman to show his black-and-white photography.

Alumna Chloe Watson Irla ’07 is the newest faculty member to show her work in the exhibition, having joined McDaniel’s Department of Art & Art History as assistant professor in 2017. She created works in fiber and mixed media for this exhibit.

“I really like that this show represents a wide range of genres, because it’s illustrative of the kind of multidimensional thing we do at McDaniel,” says Bloom, who is featuring images she made from her recent trip to the south of France. Each square image is made from a black-and- white photo coated with encaustic (wax) mixed with a brown pigment unique to the south of France to effect a vintage appearance. “So many of us have relationships with students well beyond the classroom”

For more information about the exhibition, visit www.carrollcountyartscouncil.org or call 410-848-7272.