Westby Gallery "art/VIEWS" a View to Great Art

Alicia Groatman with Kathryn McFadden in the Westby Gallery

Kathryn McFadden is on a mission - to bring art to the Rowan community and to bring the Rowan community in to see art.

The new director of the Westby Gallery, McFadden's multi-media approach is to attract visitors with short films about artists she likes, to offer up light refreshments, and to encourage students to explore original art at the gallery.

"The idea is fairly simple, use video to get people in and then let them have a look around," she explained.

McFadden, a former art instructor who became gallery director in August, has launched a series of shows dubbed "art/VIEWS" that are designed to entertain while exposing visitors to great art.

A November 8 show, held in conjunction with the Women's Studies Program, featured several short films depicting breakthrough women artists of the 21st century. Included among them were Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and Sally Mann, a controversial but celebrated photographer whose works have included naked images of her own children.

Introducing the film, McFadden said Mann was excoriated by some critics who dubbed her photographs child pornography, charges that many in the art world quickly dismissed.

"Pornography is intended to titillate, to arouse. That's not what this is about," she said.

Junior Tara Livingston, 20, a communications major, attended the show for a class but was clearly moved by Mann's work, artful poses of her prepubescent children.

"They were so beautiful," she said of the photos. "I wouldn't have come if it weren't for a class but it was really worthwhile."

McFadden, who holds an MFA in mixed media from the University of Pennsylvania, said that's the type of reaction she hopes for.

"These programs are about coming together, having a little discussion about what we see and hear," she said.

McFadden said people in general, but especially students, can learn so much about human nature from art and believes most will find a great variety of styles and mediums that appeal to them if only they give art a chance.

"Humankind has been making art for something like 27,000 years. It's intrinsic to human nature to make art," she said.

Aside from aesthetic, even historical, reasons for viewing art, McFadden said observers of art develop critical thinking skills that can benefit anyone.

"Developing an appreciation of art helps you become more well-rounded," she said. "It enables you to have knowledge about things outside your major."

In addition to other shows, the "art/VIEWS" programs at Westby Gallery will continue through the spring semester. Upcoming shows will focus on other important women artists as well as artists of African descent. For times and schedules, call the gallery at (856) 256-4521.