FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Nov. 14, 2003
CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119

'IMPRESSIONS' EXHIBITION TO OPEN AT DRAKE NOV. 21

"Impressions," an exhibition of paintings created by 24 Drake students in response to a poem, will open with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, in Weeks Gallery in the lobby of the Harmon Fine Arts Center, 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue.

The exhibition, which continues through Dec. 12, will include the 20-section poem, "Essays at Saying" by Graham Foust, assistant professor of English at Drake. Both the opening reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.

Angela Battle, assistant professor of art at Drake, and the students in her advanced painting class asked Foust to provide them with one of his poems so that they could respond to it in a visual way. "The entire project is the result of a discussion I had with my class about an article titled 'The Mind's Eye' by Oliver Sacks," Battle said. "The article was about how the blind 'see' and it generated a discussion about the differences between visual memory and the visual world and how each informs the choices an artist makes when creating work."

The interdisciplinary collaboration deals with problems of articulation or "how to account for experience (or lack thereof) in language," Foust said. He describes "Essays at Saying" as "reading Emily Dickinson while channel surfing."

Week's Gallery is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Call 271-2863.