October 16, 2009

School of Art and Design plans open studio tours

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University Carbondale invites the University and area community to tour its facilities and studio space on Oct. 23.

The Annual Open Studio tours give those interested in art but not enrolled in the program a chance to see the inner workings of the studio side of the art program at SIUC.

The self-guided tour takes participants through four of the school’s facilities. Each site has artwork on display. Light refreshments are also available. The tour ends at the Glove Factory-Surplus Gallery, where those interested may participate in a potluck cookout.

Here’s the schedule:

• 3:30 p.m. -- Foundry

Located across from Evergreen Terrace Apartments on Pleasant Hill Road, the Foundry is two large buildings surrounded by concrete pads and adjacent grass and wooded area. Students may use the area to display large sculpture. The Foundry includes a forge, woodshop, overhead lift for heavy sculpture and metal fabrication space.

• 4:15 p.m. -- Pulliam Hall

This facility is on campus, with the studio located behind Pulliam Hall natatorium. This studio space is home to ceramics, glass and metal- and blacksmithing. Students also have studio space here. The facility includes a kiln, hot shop and classrooms, studio and also outside staging area.

• 5 p.m. -- Metals House

The Metals House is at 805 S. Oakland, near Mill Street. The facility is home to private work studios for graduate students and shared studio space for undergraduates.

• 5:45 p.m. -- Surplus Gallery in the Glove Factory

The Surplus Gallery is about 4,000 square feet of gallery space and other areas for studios and offices. The gallery hosts some of the School of Art and Design’s larger venues, including the Art Over Easy benefit auction and exhibition. Sculpture facilities include an open area, woodworking shop, welding area, and fabrication space. Other areas are set aside for painting, drawing and printmaking.

The potluck dinner and conclusion to the open house tour coincides with a closing reception at the Surplus Gallery for “A Fistful of Awesome,” the C4 Members Annual Sculpture Exhibition. The reception is from 5 to 8 p.m.