AT WAGNER COLLEGE, A PORTRAIT BY MANY ARTISTS
By TEVAH PLATT, Staten Island Advance Staff Writer
GRYMES HILL, STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — On one of the bright days that followed last month’s storm, a van full of participants from the Lifestyles for the Disabled program traveled to Grymes Hill to attend, for the first time, a Wagner College art class.
Embarking on a collaborative mural project, they introduced themselves enthusiastically to Wagner’s junior and senior art studio majors, and proceeded to describe the things they see on a typical day at the Willowbrook-based skill-building center that serves about 130 adults with mental disabilities. Art teacher Jenny Toth took notes on the board: Soap in the laundry room. Coffee in the Lifestyles cafe. Crayons on the arts and crafts table.
“I definitely wasn’t sure what to expect,” said Wagner senior Amanda Frechette. “I never worked with people with mental disabilities. At the end of the day, I felt in a really good mood. They really made me smile.”
“I had a blast doing this because it was different, and it was such a nice day,” said Lifestyles program participant Giuseppe Pellecchia. “I made flowers for the mural and a caterpillar.”
Working in pairs, the group spent two days creating a felt mural that captured both the day-to-day iconography of Lifestyles and the extraordinary cheer that the art project evoked.
Students hung the 6-ft. by-10-ft. mural outside of the Lifestyles Cafe last week, covering what had been a blank, chromium oxide green wall with vibrant images of Lifestyles’ greenhouse and garden, its cafe, laundry and woodshop.
After hanging the mural, the artists teamed up for a final art session, cutting and gluing felt self-portraits while enjoying a barbecue at the Lifestyles greenhouse.
A heap of jagged colors at the center of the picnic table united the group.
The Wagner students returned this week to their personal projects, preparing for an end-of-the-semester gallery show.
“Art is something that can be collaborative and can enrich people’s lives,” said Dr. Toth. “This felt more important than anything they’ll do in the gallery.”
Matt Jasinski, of Pittsburg, Penn., left, a junior at Wagner College,
with Giuseppe Pellecchia, a Lifestyles client.
(Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)
Art/Art History Major Rob Geronimo (Class of 2009) enter
the M.A. program in Art History at Brooklyn College this Fall. In
addition, Rob has received a contract to write and illustrate a
children's book. Congratulations, Rob!
Congratulations to our second-ever art history major, Emily Visnofsky,
who graduated this spring. Emily is writing her senior thesis on
the post-colonial artist Mona Hatoum and interning at Earth
Celebrations, an art organization that fosters ecological awareness.
New York Cares held a "painting-murals-day" in several public schools on Staten Island on Oct 17-18, 2009. Emily Visnovsky, Shauna Sorensen and Michelle LoFaso, all students here at Wagner, participated in this year's project at P.S. 41. Here are photos of some of the art/murals that were completed.
October 17-18,2009 was New York Cares Day largest day of service, where they recruit about 8,000 volunteers (the volunteers can be a part of a civic, youth, or corporate team as well as an individual volunteer) to help spruce up over 100 public schools. They have over 70 mural artists who dedicate their time to help sketch murals at the schools, that the volunteers can paint. The planning process begins as early as late-August because it does take some time for mural artists to reach out to the school to discuss themes, design preliminary sketches to be approved by the school, and then to sketch out the murals at the school.
Sennacherib’s Palace Without Rival: Court VI Reconstructed
*Introduction*
Sarah J. Scott
I am pleased to present this wonderful exhibit, ‘Sennacherib’s Palace Without Rival: Court VI Reconstructed’ to the Wagner College Community. Made possible by a generous donation from the Fox Fellows Fund, it is a first step in long research project to preserve Sennacherib’s palace and educate the world about this wonderful monument. Students have worked on various issues regarding the palace, and have displayed their work in the gallery. Topics include Assyrian iconography, propaganda, textual evidence, Assyrian history and society, and Sennacherib’s reign.
The Southwest palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh, Iraq was built in 704 BCE, as a ‘Palace Without Rival.’ It was the jewel in the crown of Assyrian imperial power, containing images and text documenting the military strength and domestic suave of the king. Intricately detailed sculpted reliefs and inscriptions covered the walls, leaving little doubt in the minds of the Assyrian people regarding the message of their ruler; it acted as a microcosm of imperial propaganda. Sennacherib created this palace at time when Assyrian power was at its climax.
Understanding this monument is essential for an understanding of Assyrian culture, the meaning of their visual world, and the role of textual inscription within this world. Today, however, the sad state of preservation of this once magnificent monument makes it impossible to relay this message to contemporary audiences. It is also impossible today to present a cohesive, comprehensive model of the structure to any interested audience. The marble slabs that decorated the palace walls have been scattered across the globe, a process that began in the middle of the 19^th century when these palaces were discovered. There were originally fifty large limestone slabs carrying this series of quarrying episodes in Court VI of Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh, Iraq, but they are now to be found in several museums and collections in Europe. Twenty-one fragments of these larger bas-relief slabs are on display in the British Museum. This is the largest single collection of these fragments from this scenario. Professor Scott traveled to London during summer 2008 and together with photographers from Factum Arte, Madrid, was able to take high-resolution digital cameras into the British Museum to obtain these images. Factum Arte is one of the only companies in the world who has developed specialized 3D scanning technology for sculptures such as these. Professor Scott hopes to one day use the computer data gathered from these photographs to reconstruct a virtually interactive computer model of Sennacherib’s entire palace.
*Assyrian Palaces*
The palaces of the Assyrian period were the true hub of the king’s empire. They were the administrative nexus, domestic home of the king, diplomatic arena, and religious center. Kings used the images on the walls to broadcast their power, strength, and legitimacy to a large audience. These palaces were arranged in units of rooms, or suites centered on an open courtyard. Courtyards were more public spaces, where larger audiences could interact with one another and perhaps catch a glimpse of the king. Smaller ceremonial rooms, including throne room suites were located off these central courtyards. The palaces were constructed of timber framework and mud brick interior walls. The walls were then lined with marble orthostats carved with narrative relief sculpture. These relief sculptures usually depicted ritual scenes, military battles and processions, or hunt scenes. The narrative reliefs in Court VI of Sennacherib’s palace are a unique example because he chose to include imagery telling the story of the construction of the palace. These quarry scenes were located on the north and east walls of Court VI, while military scenes were shown on the south and west walls. He thus presents his audience with a microcosm of his ideology. He wanted to be known as a traditionally powerful king who was able to defend and fight for his kingdom, but also as an innovator who could provide for his people.
Many thanks to Don Fox for his generosity, and to all students in Art History 291: Sennacherib’s Palace Without Rival. The students in the seminar have all worked hard and learned a great deal about Assyrian art and history. They and I hope Wagner enjoys this exhibit
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" Tugboats, Day & Night", March 01, 2008 - December 31, 2009.
Portrait: Pamela Hepburn, 28"x 40", oil on linen, 2008.
Pamela Hepburn captained tugboats in the New York Harbor for over 20 years.
Her tugboat Pegasus is currently being restored as an historic education vessel.
Landscape paintings also on view.
Executive director and curator, Erin Urban.
Guest curators, George Matteson and Alexis Romano.
Location:
The Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor,
1000 Richmond Terrace
Staten Island, New York 10301
Contact:718-447-6490
www.noblemaritime.org
