The students of visual courses in KCAT recently held their first opening of many exhibitions to come in St Luke’s Hospital.
Students and friends of KCAT worked hard to raise funds to purchase sixteen custom frames which now hang permanently in the central axis lobby of the hospital.The work will be changed every few months or so in order to bring fresh interest to staff , patients and visitors. This collaboration will also allow as many students as possible the experience of exhibiting their work in a public space.The opening speech made by Gypsy Ray can be read below.We are most grateful to her, to Edelle Nolan ( Arts Officer in the hospital), and to tutors, Julie Cusack and Saturio Alonso for their continuing efforts and support. Congratulations to all the exhibiting students.
KCAT Open Studio Exhibition Launch at St. Luke’s.
Opening Speech by Gypsy Ray
The difficulties of wanting to create any art form, be it writing a poem, painting a painting, doing fibre art, or practicing an instrument can be finding the time to do it and it is often done in isolation.
The stereotype of a writer is that she or he is locked away looking at a blank page hoping for the words to come. A visual artist is alone in a studio or at a table in some shed or corner of their dwelling trying to put idea to paper or canvas. A musician practices alone for hours before joining other musicians to play music.
KCAT’s Studio Course provides a forum for individuals to come into a group setting but work with their chosen medium. There are two days a week set for the Studio Courses. People opt for full or partial days to come in to work. The group is facilitated by two gifted and talented artists, Saturio Alonso and Julie Cusack, who are there to offer help when needed, to give advice, and to be devil’s advocates when a studio member is “stuck”. It is often inspiring to see what others work on and sometimes this course produces collaborations between the group members. People with various talents are together without a system of one being a better artist than another. I have participated in the Studio Course and have benefited from doing so.
The KCAT Studio Artists are pleased, I am sure, to be exhibiting on the walls here at St. Luke’s. Whether one is at the hospital as a staff member, a patient, or a visitor, the art now on the walls makes the hospital environment richer and, in many ways, more humane. It is wonderful to have it and a thanks goes to Edelle Nolan, arts officer, all the administration and staff at St. Luke’s who have helped make this possible.
The American Painter, Georgia O’Keefe said, “To create one’s world in any of the arts takes courage”.
The artists exhibiting here are courageous! Their work is testament to their courage. To the contributing artists I say WELL DONE, CONGRATULATIONS!
I officially open this exhibit and invite you to let this work enhance your lives.