
Lesley Connects Campus and Activity
The new Lunder Arts Center has arrived.
Seven years in the making, the project is “the beginning of the next chapter in the history of the school,” said Richard Zauft, dean of the Lesley University College of Art and Design (LUCAD).
Located in Porter Square on Mass. Ave., this 74,000-square-foot building contains both art galleries and studio spaces for LUCAD, formerly known as the Art Institute of Boston (AIB), and is open to the public. For its debut, the Lunder Arts Center’s first exhibition, “Breaking Ground,” features works of over 50 alumni as a way to highlight the past and embrace the potential of the future.
Several expert jurors handpicked each piece for this show. For animation: Daniel Sousa, a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. For design: Michael Hendrix, an IDEO partner and managing director of the Boston studio. For fine art, photography and video: Andrew Witkin, director and partner at Barbara Krakow Gallery. For illustration: both Sam Bosma, award-winning artist from Society of Illustrators and Spectrum and Kali Ciesemier, a freelance illustrator who has worked for such places as Google, Harper Collins and the New York Times. Each decision was based on the quality of work and features art in various forms of media: sculpture, photography, painting, illustration and video — and a taxidermy squirrel wearing a skeletal snake as a scarf by Kate Sheridan. This has led to a show that is based on diversity and creativity with a powerful aesthetic.
Many of the pieces demonstrate a distinctive level of experimenting and thoughtfulness, including Lissa Rivera’s “Blue Room,” a digital diorama photograph with vibrant colors and numerous fine details that appears to leap off the wall and commands attention. Rivera’s inspiration comes from “pure fantasy” and the earliest uses of photography and cinema as “carnival side-show attractions.” Her combination of simple materials (cardboard, paste, and many materials used in elementary school art projects) and exciting themes (“Blue Room” calls to mind the Victorian Era) results in an intricate fusion of dreamlike images and genuine amazement. This remarkably fascinating piece of visual art is not easy to look away from.
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