The Untitled Visual Arts Collective hosted the largest incarnation yet of its annual student show on Oct. 13.
“You want to give all artists their own voice, but be able to harmonize them into one collective statement,” said Zoe Blair-Schlagenhauf, design and fine arts junior and curator of Loyola’s Clusterfunk student art exhibit.
The Untitled Visual Arts Collective, over 30 students, displayed their work at the fourth annual “Clusterfunk” show in the Danna Student Center Gallery.
Blair-Schlagenhauf explained the exhibition is aptly named, as the diversity of mediums shown are meant to represent the wide artistic scope of the students’ creations, as well as the whirlwind duty of curating such an event.
“We started collecting pieces in early September and slowly garnered submissions throughout the month. About two days before the event, we received maybe twenty more submissions,” Blair-Schlagenhauf said.
Andres Arauz, design senior, helped to promote the exhibit and organize the layout, so as to ensure this was the largest Clusterfunk to date.
“Zoe and I spent time trying to figure out the layout of the overall show and where things would go, which got a bit overwhelming considering how many submissions we got. Once that was done, it was just about hanging and arranging the work and cutting out labels for the individual pieces.”
In spite of the challenge in uniting so many elements, the organizers were pleased to see the exhibit come together aesthetically, as well as the appreciation from visitors and artists alike the day of the show.
Blair-Schlagenhauf said the event encouraged her to move forward as an artist and a curator.
“I have curatorial interest, and this will be a great milestone for my resume, but at the end of the day I just want to make people care about art,” Schlagenhauf said.
Arauz was just as happy to see such strong determination from the artists involved.
“Without a doubt, my favorite part of the show was the excitement Zoe and I felt when we saw so many submissions, as well as the overall look and feel of the gallery. It was great to hear from everyone how much they enjoyed it, and it’s great to feel like there is still a community of artists who know that they love what they do. It’s something that really keeps the passion driving forward,” Arauz said.
According to Blair-Schlagenhauf, Clusterfunk will be on display until at least February 2017.
