Assistant Professor of Art Design New London New Hampshire Colbysawyer College

CSC Family Gnus

Video: How Exercise You Paint a Gnu?

Alison Vernon '90 shares the painting of "Gnu With a View."

Colby-Sawyer Students and Alumnae Paint the Town for 'Gnus of Gnu London' Art Project

High on a hill was a colorful gnu herd … 27 gnus, to be exact, and eight of them turn out to be members of the extended Colby-Sawyer family.

In nature, gnus, or wildebeests, are categorized as one of two species - blueish or blackness - but on May xxx, 2009, a herd of them charged into town, sporting every color imaginable as part of the customs-based fine art project Gnus of Gnu London. Conceived over a twelvemonth ago as a fund-raiser for the Kearsarge Community Center (KCC) past New London Inn owner Bridget LeRoy, the gnus were sponsored by businesses and individuals, and painted by local artists including Colby-Sawyer students and alumnae Alison Vernon 'xc and Annie Ballin '82. They will be on display through Oct i and auctioned on October 11 to heighten additional funds for the KCC.

Colby-Sawyer President Tom Galligan and his wife, Susan, sponsored a gnu that is dwelling on the range of the college's front lawn. Painted by students in Assistant Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Rebekah Tolley'south printmaking course, the gnu is an expression of independence versus prescription, freedom versus tradition and ritual.

"Susan and I got excited about the project when we heard well-nigh it because we thought it would be a lot of fun for the town, and we really wanted to support the community middle," says President Galligan. "We as well idea information technology would be exciting for our students to exercise the design and art work since they have gnu and fresh ideas. We could not exist more pleased with the issue; I love looking out my office window and seeing our gnu."

Professor Loretta Barnett, chair of the Fine and Performing Arts department, describes the creation process for the Colby-Sawyer gnu: "The gnu was get-go incised with rotary and engraving tools to create a carved design on the surface much similar a traditional copperplate engraving, and then coats of acrylic pigment were applied in an expressionist way. The gnu was then masked and spray-painted to expose under painting in place, which creates a sense of ambiguous infinite, and the gnu begins to float."

The Galligans love what the students did with the gnu. "Everything virtually it is swell - it would accept pages to egnumerate all its positive qualities," enthuses President Galligan. "The colors and the gold horns give information technology a mythological look - ours is no gnu-age gnu but a timeless gnu, a sun and burn down gnu, rather than a gnuclear age gnu. People ask me what it's proper noun is – Gnucomb? Gnuberry? Gnute? – and I tell them we haven't decided withal. Susan and I also like gnudling around town to expect at all the other gnus."

The diversity and creativity of all the gnus makes walking the town a special treat these days. It's articulate that some gnus are painted with a theme direct related to its sponsor, just the Colby-Sawyer gnu was a blank canvas that the students were complimentary to make completely their own.

"Tom and Susan gave united states of america no parameters on their gnu and trusted us completely," says Professor Barnett. "We appreciate their confidence, and especially their confidence in our students' abilities to call up critically and creatively. The students did an amazing job and worked on the projection with any chunks of time they could detect between their Pupil Exhibition, Scholar's Day Presentations and their Senior Exhibition. The project came at a very busy time for our students, but they were committed and followed through."

From her office in Colgate Hall, Tracey Perkins, manager of Admission Counseling, has a clear view of the gnu and says, "Nosotros beloved having the gnu outside our window to gaze at on the front backyard – he is similar our personal pet at present and we feel he is a bang-up addition to campus. With the unabridged town of New London supporting the project, information technology is great that we get to be a part of information technology."

A gnu painted by graphic design major John DeGray '09, chosen "Cowmunication" and sponsored by Repeat Communications, is staked out on Pleasant Street. DeGray's black gnu with under colors of red orange and blue features dots and rings. Professor Barnett says that DeGray's favorite quote, from the motion-picture show "Forrest Gump," is "Simple is equally uncomplicated does," and says of the artist's style, "John's graphic design philosophy comes from a grounding in the history of graphic pattern and his study of such artists equally Ian Tschichold and Lazlo Moholy-Nagy. John does not feel that unnecessary decoration on a page is helpful and that a skillful design tin can exist busy and simple at the same fourth dimension."

Alison Vernon '90 painted "My Gnu Secret Garden" for Tracy Memorial Library and "A Gnu with a View" for The Inn at Pleasant Lake. Looking out over the lake toward Mt. Kearsarge, the inn's gnu enjoys an idyllic location and features a day scene of the view on 1 side, and a night scene on the other that evokes the song Kate Smith made famous in the 1930s, "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain," reportedly written at the inn.

Vernon moved to New London in 1982 and started painting after the nativity of her three children. Her apply of palette knives in combination with vibrant colors and fresh subject matter has made Vernon a favorite of private likewise as corporate collectors.

Annie Ballin '82 is the executive managing director of the KCC and painted three gnus. Sponsored by Mark Loehr, "Gnucleus" stands exterior the Sleeping room of Commerce Information Booth; the New London Agency's "Peace Gnu" features John Lennon-style spectacles and the lyrics to his song "Imagine," and the "Dearest Gnu," sponsored by the Friends of the New London Shopping Plaza and located near the entrance to MacKenna's Family unit Eatery.

Offshoot Associate Professor of Social Sciences and Education Hilary Cleveland co-sponsored "Sir Isaac Gnuton," a wigged beast painted past the English artist Jane Prophet that is suspended from a Chief Street maple tree and weighted by, of class, a giant apple tree. Prophet's work includes large-scale installations, digital prints and objects. Her art has been shown all over the world and reflects her interest in science, technology and landscape.

Visitors and residents alike take a couple more months to enjoy the Gnus of Gnu London. Stop by the Chamber of Commerce Information Booth to selection upwardly a walking map of the gnus' locations. Collect 18 of 22 possible stamps forth the stampede trail, and return to the chamber role for a complimentary gift. You'll exist entered to win the m prize of dinner for four at the Inn at Pleasant Lake, and you certainly don't have to be a gnu to enjoy that view.

Read more almost the Gnus of Gnu London hither.

Meet what the Concord Monitor had to say near the project, and larn more well-nigh the Kearsarge Customs center here.

Transport feedback to Kate Dunlop Seamans.

Photos by Michael Seamans

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Source: https://colby-sawyer.edu/currents/gnus.html

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