To honor two members of the art department who have died this semester the art faculty got together to create a piece of art made entirely out of salt.

The piece can be found on the first for on the art wing of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.  The piece is made completely out of salt with no adhesives holding it in place.  It is made out of swirls of different spaces and forms going in different directions.  The width of the piece is about a foot long and the length of it is more than twice the size of the width.

David Griffin, the chair of the art department, said the faculty got together to create this piece to honor Sue Rardin and Denise Rehm-Mott.

“Sue and Denise did a lot for the art department and we are all saddened to learn they died,” he said.  “They have done so much for the students, faculty and staff here at Eastern that the professors wanted to create something to represent all their hard work they have done in the past.”

He said Sue Rardin was a secretary for the department and Denise Rehm-Mott was the printmaking teacher.

Irving Coleman, a senior art major, said he loves what the professors have done for the deceased faculty members.

“I think it is a beautiful dedication to two wonderful art faculty members who have had a mark on art students,” he said.

Coleman said Denise was his favorite teacher and taught him almost everything he knew about printmaking.

“She was the main printmaking teacher,” he said. “She not only taught me but I worked along with her as well.”

Other art students like Zoe Volk, a graphic design major, knew her and said they were sad to hear of her death.

“I did not know her that well but I know of all the things she did for her students and for the department,” Volk said.

She said she likes what the department and faculty did for the members, but she is upset people have stepped in it.

“I think that something as creative and nice as that should be respected.  It is not only disrespectful towards Sue and Denise, but it is hurtful toward the people who worked hard on it,” she said.

Griffin said he is not happy that people have stepped in the artwork but still wants students to know that it will not lose its meaning because of it.

“Just because some people have stepped in the artwork does not mean it matters any less what the art department did,” he said. “The hard work the professors and faculty put into the piece for the deceased members are what matters because it shows how much these people meant to them.”

Stephanie White can be reached at 581-2812 or at sewhite2@eiu.edu