About 10 students at the Tyler School of Art have been offered a new showcase for their work: an art exhibit at the Tuttleman Counseling Center (TCC) on Main campus.
The artists’ group Tyler Christian Fellowship created the exhibit, appropriately titled Welcome Tyler to Main I, to decorate the otherwise ordinary walls of TCC in the lower level of Sullivan Hall.
Jeremy Frank, a staff psychologist at TCC, originally proposed the idea for the exhibit. Traveling from Tyler to Main Campuses to treat different students, Frank had the idea to splash some life into the otherwise clinical space of the counseling office.
The idea was sent to Tyler’s Student Life Office where Deb Martin spoke with Dionn Williams, an outreach coordinator for Tyler Christian Fellowship (TCF) and painting major, about the idea for an exhibit possibility.
Williams quickly brought the TFC students together and coordinated the exhibit with Frank. The TFC students curated the exhibit this time around, but in the later exhibits there is a possibility that art history majors would collaborate to create the exhibit with art majors at Tyler, Frank explained.
“Having art on the counseling center walls sends a powerful message to students seeking professional help and shows that there are people who care for students who are struggling with problems,” said Frank. “Many students have come before you and the work celebrates the space and therefore the process through which students seek help.”
One student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that therapy at the center feels more positive because of the beauty that the exhibit brought to the space.
The exhibit had an official opening on October 1st and will run through the end of the semester. Next semester a new group of artists such as the Tyler Student Government or the Intellectual Heritage club will showcase their work at the center.
“We wanted to make a positive atmosphere for the center because students already bring their own problems when they go to the center,” said Williams. “We made sure to that the art we hung up wasn’t too controversial, too violent, too sexual, or too religious.”
Williams created one particular work featured in the exhibit, “Infanzia,” when she studied abroad in Rome, Italy under Stanley Whitney.
“My art work reflects many styles because I get bored quickly with my own work, said Williams. “As a result I teach myself new techniques and new ways of expressing myself. My emotions play a big role in my work – I pour my emotions like anger or love onto the canvas. It’s like taking a picture of something invisible and then I don’t have to talk about them.”
The feedback that the art students have been receiving has been completely positive. Williams already sold two of her painting even prior to the exhibit. Over 25 works – among them photographs and paintings – remain to be sold.
The exhibit also addresses the long awaited move of Tyler’s Elkins Park Campus to Main Campus. “Hopefully, this exhibit will be a domino effect, where other art students will follow in our footsteps and Temple will be a unified college. When we go to the same school as students on Broad Street, we won’t be afraid to move to Main campus,” Williams explained.
“Also this opportunity taught us that Main campus students are nice and we are on the same team.”
Tyler’s complete move to main campus has been awaited since 1999, according to Tyler graduate Baylor. “The move to Main Campus is still very vague and nobody has any solid information on the exact date,” said Baylor. “Tyler students are not worried about the move because they have so much work to do. It’s the least of their worries.”
Prospective buyers can inquire about artwork prices at the front desk or directly e-mail the artists, whose e-mail addresses are directly available through the Cherry and White Pages. For more information on Tyler Christian Fellowship e-mail tylerfellowship@hotmail.com.
Olga Dvornikova can be reached at olga.dvornikova@temple.edu
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