It’s almost February and love is in the air again. Or at least in the gallery.
Starting Feb.5, the Emporia Arts Council will host a display of love-themed work from Emporia State University in time for the Valentine’s season. This is the third year for the exhibit, which features both student and faculty pieces, and the first time that it’s been held off-campus.
Why move the show? Partly to protect another exhibit from damage — there’s a paper sculpture exhibit coming in that’s fairly fragile — but also to give the display more community exposure.
“It allows the show to be up for a month instead of just a week or a day,” said ESU art professor Roberta Eichenberg, the director of the Eppink Gallery. “It’s no less work doing it for a day or two days, or doing it for a month, and people have more opportunity to get to it. So I hope it’s not too snowy for this.”
The show is a scholarship fund raiser and usually a successful one. In its first two years, it’s raised about $2,000 a year.
Eichenberg began sending out invitations to take part in the show Dec. 29 and never really stopped. Some were invited to join the exhibit as recently as last week.
The show includes a variety of pieces, from cards to paintings to glasswork. Chocolate truffles prepared by student artist Allison Foster will be served and Eichenberg is trying to arrange for some ESU musicians to perform for the exhibit.
Some of the work is as sweet and pretty as the theme might suggest, while other pieces are a little more jarring. One drawing, for example, depicts a passionate embrace between two skeletons.
“It isn’t all hearts and flowers,” Eichenberg said.
Some of the exhibits were pre-existing pieces while others were created specifically for the show. Creating to fit a theme can sometimes be harder, Eichenberg said.
“Sometimes it’s difficult, more of a challenge,” she said. “Depending on how established you are, you may have a thematic groove you’re in. Maybe it’s easier for the students — they’re not as established yet in their content.”
The pieces in the show are for sale. The show runs through Feb. 28.
For more information, contact the Emporia Arts Council at 343-6473.