Department of Art MFA’s Exhibit at Aqua in Art Basel Miami
Photo by Michelle Eccles
The Department of Art Masters of Fine Arts students recently had the opportunity to go to Miami for Art Miami and exhibit at Aqua Art Fair in 2015. This trip and exhibition were made possible through the generosity of donors and the College of Fine Arts. All trip participants are extremely grateful for these contributions!
Photo by Nick Schilz
The Aqua Art Fair offers a unique environment in a classic South Beach hotel with spacious exhibition rooms that open onto a courtyard. This fair has become a favorite gathering spot for collectors, curators and art lovers to discover fresh talent and acquire new works while exchanging cultural ideas and forming meaningful connections.
As told by MFA ’18 Lauren Baker, “I believe that Aqua is a great fair for FSU grads to gain exposure. Over the years, I have seen emerging artists come out of Aqua to go on to show at larger fairs such as Art Miami, Scope, and Untitled. I feel like Aqua provides a unique opportunity for us to create a lasting relationship and provide stability for future FSU grads.”
Terri Lindbloom and Sharon Norwood
MFA ’17 Michelle Eccles spoke of the experience, “All in all, I felt that our trip to Art Basel Miami was a fantastic experience. I think as a whole we learned a ton and I think it helped inspire us to raise the bar in our personal practice and for showing at Aqua in the future.”
Before leaving south Florida, a group of students visited the Rauschenberg Residency at Captiva. The Rauschenberg Residency is inspired by Rauschenberg’s early years at Black Mountain College where an artistic community brought out elements central to his art, collaboration and exploration, learning from and working with others to break new ground. The residency advances new work, extends practices into new mediums, and serves as a research and development lab for performance-based projects; it fosters the ideal that artistic practice advances mutual understanding; and it engenders a focus on the conservation of a sensitive and pristine environment.
MFA ’18 Lisa Co reflected, “The landscape and fish house were really beautiful and it was such a great opportunity to meet Will Cotton, see the facilities and hear about the experimental techniques that were being used by the artists in residence. It was also helpful to see how a residency at that level is run and to get an insider’s view of the collaboration created from several artists staying together while still working on their own projects (which reminded me a lot of our own dynamic within the grad program).”