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Welcome to the 2008 Online Staff Art Gallery.
Click here to see the 2009 Online Staff Gallery.
Click here to see the 2010 Online Staff Gallery
This webpage is a gallery devoted to showcasing the artistic expressions of Smith College staff members.

The artworks below are the "2008 Gallery". Contributing Artists (in alphabetical order): Chris Gentes, Mimi Lempart, Heather McQueen, Ken Molnar, Jan Morris, Sherrill Redmon, Donna Plassman, Valerie Schumacher, Bill Wisnieski.

Bill Wisnieski
Information Technology Services

"Leap of Faith"
April 2005, Cape Cod

"Frog in the Sun"
September 2006, Atkins Reservoir

VALERIE SCHUMACHER
Student Employment/Fund Coordinator, Student Financial Services
To see more of Valerie's photos from her trips to Vietnam, please visit http://www.vietvet.org/valsgal.htm

These photos were taken during a 3 week trip to Vietnam in 1995. My late husband Bob Hodgkins was a Vietnam War veteran, which sparked my interest in the country. Visiting gave me a little more taste of the war than I'd bargained for at times (for instance, a 500 lb bomb leftover from the war blew up in front of my hotel in Pleiku). But then again, they always say "Careful what you wish for", whoever they are... Bob did not wish to return to Vietnam (who can blame him) but called me almost every night while I was there, then stuck me with the phone bill when I got home :). Because Bob inspired me to go to Vietnam in the first place, these photos are in memory of him.

"Boy Swimming"
Black & white 120 mm film with a Holga plastic camera

"Schoolgirls"
Black & white 120 mm film with a Holga plastic camera

"Boy on a Buffalo"
Black & white 120 mm film with a Holga plastic camera

MIMI LEMPART
Libraries/Collection Services

These images represent the first pieces in three mixed media series I am working on this summer. For years I've been working within a small format --these pieces are 5 x 5 inches -- but never combining collage with multiple applications of paint, glazing medium, metal leaf, stencils and rubber stamps. My process begins with layering paint and glaze on large sheets of paper which I then tear or cut into smaller segments, apply another layer of medium, and so forth. It should be interesting to see the evolution of this process by the end of the summer.

"Revelation #1"
2008

"Alphabetica #1"
2008

"Shrine #1"
2008

JAN MORRIS
Student Affairs/Campus Center
To see more of Jan's work visit www.janniejoyart.com

"Truck - Appreciate Who You Are"
October 2007, Northfield, MA

"Storm"
July 2006, Frankfort, MI

"New American"
May 2008, Springfield, MA
The subject's name is Jackson. He is the youngest and the only American citizen in his family, who immigrated from Mexico. He is new in the sense that he is so young, but he was born here.

KEN MOLNAR
Events Management Office

When I was a kid I was always drawing ... on everything, all of the time. Back then I really wanted to be a cartoonist. I loved Hagar the Horrible. I didn't really start "illustrating" until high school, where I had a rather good art teacher, Mrs. Allen. But I was by no means the best student: every art class has at least one super-talented illustrator, and I was not him. Then in college, after a fruitless year of computer science, I took exactly one more higher-ed art class, during which I noticed some improvement in my work. But then life intervened and I stopped drawing again. A few years later, out of school, I picked up my pencils and this is what came out. The blend of fine-art technique and cartooniness really appeals to me, and I try to pack in as much humor and whimsy as I can. I like working in black and white, because I can really focus on composition and form. When I am illustrating it feels more like sculpting "in the page" rather than drawing on it. Unfortunately, I haven't drawn anything in quite some time. Maybe it's time to pick it back up ...

"Sleeping Mouse"
Graphite on Paper

"Santa Mouse"
Graphite on Paper

"Sledding Turtles"
Graphite on Paper

HEATHER McQUEEN
Clark Science Center

The cyanotype is one of the earliest photographic methods. The process relies on the sensitivity of iron salts to UV light to create an image. Traditional pre-digital black and white photography uses silver salts. It is a direct contact printing process; the negative or object printed is the same size as the finished print. The most familiar form of of cyanotype to most people is the architectural or engineering blueprint, which were originally made via the cyanotype process. I found my inspiration from the first book on any subject in any country to be printed using photography, (instead of typesetting and illustrations): British Algae by Anna Atkins. The first volume was issued in October of 1834, and the series was completed in late 1835. Using the same method as Ms. Atkins, I took plant cuttings from my garden to use as "negatives" to create these prints. I prepared paper with a solution of potassium ferricyanide and ammonium ferric citrate. I arranged the cuttings on the paper, exposed them to strong July sunshine for about 20 minutes, and then rinsed with water. The exposed areas not covered by the plants turned dark blue, leaving behind the image of the plants in white.

"Thistle"
Cyanotype on Paper. 12 July 2008.

"Dill"
Cyanotype on Paper. 12 July 2008.

"Peas"
Cyanotype on Paper. 12 July 2008.

SHERRILL REDMON
Libraries - Sophia Smith Collection

"Three Untitled Drawings"
Ink and Colored Pencil on Paper

The drawings are done in ink and colored pencil on whatever colored card stock or other paper I can scrounge up. I started several years ago by decorating the backs of some obsolete bookmarks from the SSC, and I often use the backs of the Poetry Center notices because those are done on paper in colors I like. They are just what emerges when I have a pencil in my hand while watching [television] after a day [...] at work. They have no titles or any particular meaning.

These are among my largest and were created beginning with a penciled grid. The circles are all drawn freehand in pencil and then made rounder in ink. I have accumulated hundreds more designs in different shapes and sizes, since I do this most evenings for a couple of hours. I enjoy seeing how each design develops a little differently from the one before and I like some better than others, but beyond that, I haven't a clue.

DONNA PLASSMAN

"Untitled"
These two photos were taken at the 2008 Bulb Show with a 12 megapixel camera.

CHRIS GENTES

"Northampton - Upper Main Street"
Mixed Media on Paper

These are my three favorites from a larger series I did of Northampton back in the '90s. I started with a pencil drawing, and then filled in the rest with watercolor, highlighter, sharpie, white-out, and pen.

GUEST BOOK

"Thank you for a great art break."

"Thank you for sharing with the campus community. It was very refreshing to view your work. You are a very talented group."

"Thanks, this is a lovely way to see another side of colleagues.""

"I love the gallery and plan to contribute some of my own artwork very soon!"

"Thanks to the Smith staff who developed this new and continuing way to appreciate our colleagues. In addition to seeing another side of people I know, the quality and variety of the work is very engaging. Bravo!"

Sponsored by Smith College Staff Council | Northampton, MA 01063
Questions? send us email | Last updated January 20, 2011