Sydney Kaye
Pachydermis Epidermis, 2010
relief print
6" x 9 1/2"
These instructor/artists included Sue Chenoweth, painting, drawing and mixed-media instructor, Koryn Woodward Wasson, arts department head; Nicole Olson, director of dance; and Dana Buhl, a photography instructor, who interned at the SMoCA curatorial department for the recent At the Crossroads of American Photography: Callahan, Siskind, Sommer photography exhibition.
“Because Metro has so many visual arts classes, we received a good variety of possible entries,” Buhl says, noting that she saw much of the work in progress at Metro Arts. These were juried at the school as well as by Hales at SMoCA.
Olson coordinated not only the dance performances at SMoCA but also ensured that the art and dance students worked with each other for mutual inspiration. “The visual and film art was to all be based on how dance inspired and helped create the images for their work,” she says.
The Metro dance program, she explains, is structured for college prep. “If a student finishes our entire program, he or she is prepared for a college dance program,” explains Olson, who performs in the Valley with Scorpius Dance Theatre and the Phoenix Opera. Metro offers its students opportunities to choreograph and perform in many venues in addition to SMoCA: the Herberger Theatre, Celebration of Dance and SCPA, among others, she adds.
Metro Arts is pleased with the outcomes both at the school and at SMoCA: “We feel lucky to see both our visual and performing artists working so closely together to understand each other and challenge each other’s concepts of art making,” Buhl says.
Adds Hales: “This exhibition showcases the exuberant energy and passion of Metro Arts students. I have been impressed to see their creative processes take shape over this year. The dancers worked in original ways with the visual artists and vice versa — and the end result is a show that beautifully captures the dynamics of dance.”
For more information about the two exhibitions and related programs visit www.SMoCA.org.
