Student art on display in Burruss Hall ranges from construction workers to emerald hills

Rob Deane's academic career was influenced by a series of pastel drawings he did as a senior at Woodberry Forest High School. Those large pieces of art depict construction workers. Now Deane, a Charlottesville, Va., native and second year student in architecture at Virginia Tech, is designing buildings.

Deane's works and those of five other Virginia Tech students are on display in the Office of the Vice President for Research at Virginia Tech through August.

An opening reception, providing an opportunity to meet the artists, will be held on Friday, April 20, from noon until 2 p.m. in 301 Burruss Hall.

Other artists include:

• Jared Clifton of Charlottesville, a sophomore majoring in art history in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies;
• Will Taylor of Alexandria, Va., a bachelor of fine arts senior in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies concentrating in studio art;
• Christine Maga of Blacksburg, a senior majoring in art history the College of Architecture and Urban Studies;
• Katie Cummings of Lorton, Va., a first year student in studio art in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies; and
• Sidra Kaluszka of Pilot, Va., a senior in studio art in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.

Depicting construction workers allowed Deane to draw the human figure from interesting perspectives, he said, such as the foreshortened composition that looks up at an ironworker who is taking a break, and the view looking up from inside a lunch box. He submitted the works as part of his Advanced Placement portfolio and received the highest rating.

Deane has done construction, volunteering as an Eagle Scout on a number of projects. He designed and helped build what he describes as "gigantic Venus fly traps that children can run through" for the Virginia Discovery Museum.

"I appreciate the act of building things," he said. "Then with the construction pastels, my interest in art and architecture came together."

Although Deane is busy now drawing and building models of structures smaller than the skyscrapers occupied by his imaginary subjects, he finds time to play bagpipes with a Roanoke group.

Christine Maga's large oil, "Emerald Hills," welcomes you to the Office of the Vice President for Research. In fact, it is an attention getter as soon as you turn the corner at the opposite end of the hallway and spot it through the glass door of the office.

In Katie Cummings' "Blue Eyed Thoughts," an attractive student is looking at something out of the corners of her eyes and, maybe, smiling. There is mystery in that enigmatic look.

Jared Clifton's focus is the human face, presented with generous texture and color in what the artist calls "aesthetic messiness."

Will Taylor likes to engage the viewer in "discerning what may be displayed" so that each viewer has an individual interpretation.

Refreshments will be served at the reception. For information, contact Pam Pettry at (540) 231-6077.