Alumni and their art return to Stein Galleries for new exhibition

“Point of View” (2012, oil on canvas) by John Benton ’76

Wright State’s Department of Art and Art History equips its graduates with a palette of many colors—one with shades of talent, hues of creativity and tints of ambition. While alumni artists are sent into the world to make it a more vibrant place, 82 will return to where it all began.

From May 21 through June 13, the Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries will celebrate its 40th season with an exhibition of alumni artwork.

“It’s thrilling to see visual art alumni still making art in some way. It’s not easy to dedicate the time needed to continue making art once life starts happening after college,” said Tess Cortes, coordinator of the Stein Galleries.

“This exhibition was conceived as a way to re-engage our alumni artists as well as commemorate the galleries’ 40th exhibition season,” said Cortes.

The exhibition will include sculpture, painting, printmaking and video—all created within the last five years.

Susan Byrnes, a visual artist and curator who selected the works in the exhibition, said the collective body of art is inspired in various ways by Wright State, its faculty and academic experiences common to the former students.

“I chose 114 works that display the range of technical skills, breadth of conceptual approaches and variety of risk taking and experimentation of Wright State’s alumni artists,” said Byrnes.

A public reception will kick off the exhibition on Friday, May 23, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served along with a cash bar.

“I’m very excited for this exhibit, especially for the reception, when everyone can meet and reconnect after some years,” said Cortes. “I think one thing the Stein Galleries is a great resource for, to not only our alumni but other artists in the community, is to be a continued source of artistic inspiration and respite. Every season we have visiting artist lectures along with our exhibitions, all of which are free and open to the public.”

A list of participating artists is available on the gallery’s website.

Summer gallery hours are Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. All visitor parking areas on campus are free and parking at the Creative Arts Center is unrestricted on weekends.