Recent News
Kurt O. Brown will retire at the end of December 2018
Dec 11, 2018
Kurt O. Brown, the Art and Design Department’s beloved, award-winning instructional support technician III for photography and video — a dear friend, mentor and confidant to so many — will retire at the end of December. Brown began his career in November 1984 as a temporary equipment technician for the department. He was subsequently hired full-time as an instructional support technician I in February 1985, and has been an invaluable colleague ever since. Over the years Brown has fostered relationships with hundreds of students who have gone through the program, from art and design majors to those taking photography and video classes as either GEs or electives. He helped bridge lasting relationships with many others throughout the campus community and always enhanced the Learn by Doing philosophy at Cal Poly with his generous assistance and support to students, faculty and staff. For the department’s photography and video concentration, Brown has implemented systems and protocols for seamless lab operations that are widely used by alumni in their own practice. He has also been influential in generating thousands of dollars in equipment donations, as well as funding for equipment through his alumni connections. As a testimony to his unparalleled skills, uncompromising work ethic and overall congeniality, Brown received the staff award in 2000 for Continuing Excellence from the College of Liberal Arts; and in 2017 the college recognized him again with the Career Achievement Award. Brown is retiring to focus on his health and his family. His ubiquitous smile and compassionate heart will be greatly missed. The department wishes him the happiest of retirements. A reception will be held from 3-5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11, at the University Art Gallery, located on the first floor in the Dexter Building (No. 34).
Student Exhibit at the hub ARTS Obispo Gallery until Dec 9, 2018
Dec 11, 2018
University Art Gallery to present ‘New Nature’ Nov. 15-Dec. 7, 2018
Dec 11, 2018
The University Art Gallery will present “New Nature,” a one-take, 24-hour-long video that captures a day and a night in the life of a wild place, by artist Mark Tribe to run Thursday, Nov. 15, to Friday, Dec. 7. Shot in a single take on a stationary digital cinema camera, these pictures of Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest in New York are meant to be exhibited on large ultra-high-definition screens with immersive sound systems. The gallery, located on the ground floor of the Dexter Building (No. 34), is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Tribe will also give a talk about his work at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 29, in Room 149 of the Dexter Building. A reception will follow at 6 p.m. in the gallery. Tribe is interested in the traditions of Western landscape painting and photography, and how they are reflections of the ideologies that were prevalent in the societies that produced them. If, for example, the paintings of the Hudson River School and the frontier photographs of Carlton Watkins and his peers are expressions of the idea of manifest destiny, what kinds of landscape images might flow from the ideology of environmentalism in an age of climate change and mass extinction?
Art and Design Students Create Frankenstein Display
Nov 1, 2018
On Halloween, Cal Poly students, faculty and staff joined in a public reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in Kennedy Library’s 2nd floor Exhibit Commons. Cal Poly’s student readers came from thirty-seven different majors. The reading was part of the Keats-Shelley Association of America’s Frankenreads, a worldwide marathon reading, with 700 institutions across the globe participating in this historic undertaking. Cal Poly students from the Department of Art and Design and the College of Architecture worked with faculty advisor, Charmaine Martinez, and Kennedy Library curator, Catherine Trujillo, to create the backdrop for the Frankensreads event and a Dia de los Muertos altar for Mary Shelley. The installation will be on view in the Kennedy Library through November 2, 2018.
Art & Design Faculty Research Triennial Opens Oct. 4, 2018
Oct 1, 2018
The University Art Gallery will have an opening reception for The Faculty Triennial exhibit Thursday, Oct. 4, from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibit, running Oct. 4–26, will demonstrate the high caliber of work that can be achieved with time and practice as Cal Poly’s Art and Design faculty showcase the work they create outside the classroom as professional artists. Eighteen professors and lecturers will display pieces in the practices of sculpture, painting, video, photo, digital media and graphic design. The University Art Gallery in the Dexter Building (No. 34) is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
University Art Gallery to Exhibit the Work of 2018 Graduates Until June 16
Jun 18, 2018
The University Art Gallery will present “This Must Be The Place,” featuring multi-disciplinary works by students graduating from the Art and Design Department until June 16, 2018. Works by the following artists will be featured in the University Art Gallery, located on the ground floor of the Dexter Building (No. 34): Carter Broad, Vivien Cheung, Ally Evans, Lauren Goldenberg, Mallory Harris (pictured), Julia McClintock, Noelle Merrihew, Carlie Meyers, Amanda Parra-Settles, Vianca de la Parra, Chloe Plant, Alana Primes, Thomas Stoekinger, Anna Teiche, Lela Welch, Olivia Witt, Roslyn Yeager and Solstice Zaranski. The gallery is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Art and Design Student Magazine .RAW Expands Production
May 26, 2018
For its second issue, .RAW took a step further by collaborating with Club 34, Cal Poly’s Art and Design club. The original plan was to publish 35 copies of the magazine through the Art and Design Department in winter 2018, but with fundraising and merchandise sales, enough money was raised to print 150 copies through UGS.
Art & Design Alumni Attend 'Lives Well Lived' Screening
May 16, 2018
Art & Design alumni attend Sky Bergman's 'Lives Well Lived' screening at Vogue Theater in San Francisco, CA.
Lives Well Lived: Filmmaker Sky Bergman Features the Secrets, Wisdom and Wit of Age
May 16, 2018
The California Report features Sky Bergman's 'Lives Well Lived' film.
Art and Design Student Creates '25-35' Art Installation in Baker Center
May 16, 2018