Introduction

TechArts began as an art installation in 1995, as a way to showcase the artistic talents of the students, faculty, and staff of New England Tech and share them with the rest of the college community.  This single showing was originally conceived by the late Dr. Richard Wertz and carried out with my assistance. The concept of TechArts resurfaced in the Spring of 2004, when Dr. Linda Salter developed a new Humanities and Social Science course entitled Encounter with Modern Art. This course required a final project of creating a piece of art based on concepts studied in class. Wishing to display the interesting projects that she received, Dr. Salter approached me to use the Library as a gallery for her students' works. At the same time, the process of assessing the College in preparation for the decennial accreditation visit was underway, and, as committees looked to the past to prepare for the future, TechArts began anew.

A committee of faculty and administrative staff members became fully committed to keeping this tradition alive and decided to revive the idea of TechArts, combine it with the Encounter with Modern Art course, and make it an annual event. The TechArts Committee includes Dr. Linda Salter (Assistant Professor in Humanities and Social Science), Melissa Hague (Student Activities Coordinator), Dawn Edmondson (Instructor in Interior Design), and myself, who set about defining the parameters for the exhibit, planning the submission and opening dates, and organizing the gallery opening reception.

This endeavor has succeeded far beyond our wildest dreams.  The call for artists netted us a wide-ranging collection of art from 52 artists comprising 125 pieces of physical, virtual, fine, and applied arts. Thirty students, five faculty members, seven staff members, eleven alumni and one group (AUT faculty and students) have contributed their best efforts for this exhibition.  Some of the students are members of the Winter Quarter Encounter with Modern Art course who discovered the artist within while creating their final projects for the course. Other artists are seasoned professionals who have exhibited throughout the area and have won awards for their work. Still others create art for themselves which they have chosen to share with the college community.

As you can see in the small photographs of the works below, the art is striking, calming, serious, whimsical, thought provoking, and always interesting. It has been a pleasure working with the artists, living with the art gracing the Library, and watching the reactions of all who visit our Library turned art gallery.

I would like to thank my assistant curators, Cindy Pankiewicz (Catalog Librarian) and Grayce Moorehead (Web Content Manager) for their artistic sensibilities and their assistance with organizing and arranging the art works throughout the Library. The final display of works was the result of many days' worth of collaboration, trying to exhibit the art singly and in groups, finding the best aesthetic location for each piece. We sincerely hope that we have done justice to the work given over to our care.

Finally, we invite everyone to come in and enjoy the art for the entire month of April and to marvel at the creativity and imagination of the artists who study and learn and work among us every day.

Sharon Charette
Exhibit Curator

See exhibit catalogs for TechArts 2006 and Works in the Permanent Collection.