Tusculum College student art featured in office display
When School of Arts and Sciences Director Ron McCallister was considering a way to spice up the atmosphere of the student area in the Academic Resource Center office, he conferred with the team there and came up with a decorative solution.
“The Academic Resource Center should be a place that’s inviting for students, and the entrance area looked like industrial space,” said McCallister.
Director of Career Development Amanda Waddell also wanted to make the student area more inviting and jumped at the chance to make it a student space by seeking out a student artist through the school’s art and design program.
As a result, student Tylan Adams now has a prominent showcase for her 2008-09 work on the walls of the Academic Resource Center. Adams, a senior graphic design major from Greeneville, is thrilled to have her work on display, and her instructors are happy for the wider community to see the quality of work produced by Tusculum’s art department.
“Sometimes people don’t know that we’re doing as good of work as we are,” said Deborah Bryan, assistant professor of art. Adams developed the work on display while a student in Bryan’s classes.
“She has a good eye,” Bryan said of Adams,” but what has really made her stand out is the willingness to really work hard. We need more students like her.”
The work on display includes charcoal and pastel drawings as well as oil paintings that Adams has developed over the past two years. The common link is the focus on ordinary items at close range, which give the ordinary something that really catches the eye, according to Bryan.
Many of the works represent as much as 30-40 hours of work to reach a final design. But according to Adams, it is worth it to reach the finished product.
“I’m excited about have them on display,” said Adams. “This is the first time to have them displayed, and I also learned about framing and putting together a finished look.”
Her new found talent is also carrying over into her career path, as she applies what she learns in her fine arts classes to her graphic design challenges, where Assistant Professor of Art Keith Herrin is just as proud of her work.
“Knowing how to draw, to show an idea, is very important when working with a client,” said Herrin. “You need to be able to show them the idea in a concrete way.”
He also praised her hard work and persistence.
“It takes a lot of perseverance to work it out from start to finish - to take it to the level it needs to be, and she does that,” he said.
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