April 15, 2013
April Wefler
[email protected]
Students see it every day, walking through University Center. They see it through the eyes of children in the display by the bookstore or on the wall near the pool tables. Art is everywhere.
Public Art, a new club on campus, is looking to bring the UCCS and Colorado Springs communities closer together through art.
Jacob Scott, a freshman majoring in human biology, said in an email that he and Tiarra Lee created Public Art to share art with the community “to improve the community by engaging them in creative thought and by creating works that make more interesting and beautiful surroundings.”
Scott explained public art can come in many forms, from paintings to sculptures and can be permanent or temporary – any art in a public space.
According to publicartarchive.org, “a public art collection is not only part of a city or regional identity; it often serves as a major vehicle for engaging local citizens and visitors through art.”
“To me, public art is sharing creativity and ideas while creating community. I hope that our club will be able to engage the UCCS and Colorado Springs community and help make our town a more beautiful place by sharing art with the community,” Scott said.
The Public Art club is starting with temporary art, like pastels and chalk. “Right now we are planning on creating various sidewalk murals with pastels to get the word out about our club and show what we do,” Scott said.
He said that many of the Public Art members have become involved in art by taking classes, joining clubs or for personal enjoyment.
“Personally, I’ve always enjoyed art since elementary school and always took classes and joined art clubs because I wanted to get better.”
“I really enjoy being able to be creative and being able to share your creativity or your vision with someone else,” he added.
Scott said his favorite art medium to work with is pastels because they blend nicely and are more forgiving than paint or markers.
His inspiration comes from John William Waterhouse, Herbert James Draper and Diego Rivera because of their subject matter and talent.
Last September, Scott entered a chalk contest at the What If Festival downtown. “My design was a skeleton head with lots of color around it and a marigold, sort of a Day of the Dead theme,” Scott said.
“I really liked it because of the contrast between the skull that people thought was creepy and the colors that elicited happier feelings. I really liked the process of making it because the people got to see it from start to finish and you can see people’s responses to my artwork,” he added.
Students interested in joining Public Art can show up to a meeting or contact Scott at [email protected] or Lee at [email protected]. The club meets on Fridays from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in University Center, Room 307.