Traditionally, Cornell’s gallery space is limited to students pursuing BFA and MFA degrees. The Fine Arts bachelor’s program only accepts about 30 students annually, with MFA in even lower digits (two or three each year); there is no real opportunity for the rest of the student body to show their work in an official capacity. As such, the freshmen BFA students along with faculty sponsor Julianne Hunter have proposed a petition to open the art space to a broader audience and community of Cornell.
The proposal, ‘Fresh Perspectives,’ aims to celebrate the creative potential of the diversity of the freshman class of 2028, subverting the expectations of a typical gallery — an exclusionary space representing works by established artists. Serving as the inaugural formal presentation of the freshmen artists at Cornell, this event may prove instrumental in motivating the students and revealing their significant potential. This exhibition aims to showcase not only the BFA freshmen artists’ innovative approaches but also students who traditionally would never have the opportunity to be represented in a formal setting outside of the AAP.
The exhibition is centered around Cornell’s founding principle of ‘any person, any study,’ in the belief that the freedom of expression in art is crucial for critical and public dialogue, and it comes by giving people the opportunity to represent their work in a formal setting, regardless of their experience or field of study.
The showcase highlights the emerging works of younger artists who are yet to solidify their style. The hope is to provide a platform for every student to reveal their artistic fervor without fear of rejection of the artwork.
The proposal aims to explore the passion for art within the freshmen community both within and outside AAP. The premise is that beyond the confines of AAP, students possess an inherent desire to articulate their emotions through various artistic mediums, including painting, photography and impromptu sketches — sometimes even in their lecture notes. The exhibition seeks to encompass these diverse artistic expressions, offering a platform for students to present their creative works, thereby bringing representation to the exhibited pieces.
“When we first came to Cornell, similar to the popular beliefs of the art world, the exhibition space required experience – only granted for juniors and seniors and that’s how this idea of a freshman gallery came to our mind,” said Christina Song ’28, one of the co-authors of the petition and Fine Arts major in the College of Architecture, Arts, and Planning. “If freshmen can interact with the public about their artwork, the thought-provoking dialogue is bound to influence their style before solidifying it in isolation. Art doesn’t have to be a solitary activity. It could bring a community to the self, instead of confining the individual.”
Even the engineering students are passionate about art. Interdisciplinary collaboration is crucial to bring about new perspectives and diversity in representation.
“Seeing a fellow student doodle an anime on the margins of the lecture notes made me realize that art’s passion is abundant in the other colleges beyond AAP but is also underrepresented. Art is interdisciplinary and as an artist myself, I felt the need to organize such an integrative exhibition at Cornell with others.” Said Ashee B. Bansaal ’28, one of the co-authors of the petition and a Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering major in Cornell Engineering and Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.
The artworks, coupled with the artists’ distinctive viewpoints and innovative approaches, stimulate interdisciplinary conversations among students from various academic departments. This interaction will ultimately result in a fascinating fusion of diverse fields of study with artistic expression.
To account for the diverse talent of the Class of 2028, this exhibition covers a wide range of artistic genres, including (but not limited to) painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and digital art.
The submissions for artists are open until Jan. 1, 2025. Contact Faculty Sponsor Julianne Hunter ([email protected]) for more information. By joining the Slack (https://qr.link/pQOlPw), you can communicate with student leaders about the petition.
Claire Choi is a freshman in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. She can be reached at [email protected].