“Little Boxes: Explorations on a Simple Form” is on display at the Sarratt Student Center’s Sarratt Gallery through Aug. 9.
The exhibition features fine art craftwork by Nancie Roark, Susan Moody and David Heustess, all instructors at Sarratt Art Studios and the summertime Sarratt Youth Art Institute. Using mediums such as glass beads and metalwork in silver, brass and copper, the artists have created 21 boxes ranging in style from the sophisticated to the whimsical to the sacred.
The box, usually seen as an everyday item, can take on numerous roles from a practical container to something more ornate, meaningful and important, such as a reliquary, which can contain a sacred treasure, special object or memory. The exhibition reveals how boxes can be created and celebrated as beautiful objects in their own right and how fine art craftwork delivers ornamental wares significant to our society and community.
“Little Boxes” also provides an opportunity for Sarratt Gallery to be used as a teaching space, as the Sarratt Youth Art Institute students are exploring shapes and spatial themes in class. Touring the gallery and seeing the variety of ways a common shape has been creatively used can be beneficial in sparking ideas in the students’ own creations.
Sarratt Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday.
Contact: David Heustess
david.f.heustess@vanderbilt.edu