Teachers Beyond the Classroom | Signpost

The faculty’s biennial art showcase opened at the Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery on September 17, showcasing the works of 25 faculty members from Weber State University, the first physical exhibition to take place there since pandemic.

Typically occurring once every two years, this particular faculty show was delayed last year due to COVID-19. Free and open to the public, the exhibition will run until November 13, with gallery opening hours from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

Shaw Gallery director Lydia Gravis said the exhibition is a valuable opportunity for professors as they share their own work and present themselves not only as teachers, but as artists.

Gravis said the faculty has responded to current events and issues through their various visual languages, from abstraction to visual meditation.

“This is an example of an exhibit with a really diverse content, style and medium, so it’s a great opportunity for people to go out and see a wide variety of working artists who are also teachers and members of the personal, ”said Gravis.

Professor Jason Manley said his classroom teaching materials influenced his work for the show.

“There are things that I teach that inspire what I do in my own work, and my own research comes out in my teaching,” Manley said. “It’s good for the students to see what we do, what the faculty are doing and that we are performing artists and not just teachers. “

Gravis said research is a big part of a professor’s professional career, and the visual arts seen in the exhibit are like research presentations – rather than being published in a paper or article, the research is presented in an exhibition of works of art.

The favorite part of Manley’s exhibitions is showing off his hard work.

“I don’t do work just to go to my basement; I want people to see it, ”Manley said. “You introduce it and it’s a moment to reflect on what you’ve done. ”

Cassie Smith, director of marketing and public relations at Lindquist College of Arts and Humanities, said it was exciting to see what the faculty was working on and finally organize another in-person event.

“Our teachers are amazing artists, so it’s cool to see what they’re doing not only in the classroom, but outside of the classroom,” Smith said. “This is what they are working on and this is what they are getting involved in.”

Smith said she was excited about everything this exhibit represents, especially the return to normalcy.