On Friday, the Tarble Fine Arts Center celebrated their 40th anniversary from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with an art exhibit, To Bear the Mark of Time, open from Friday to Jan. 28.

The Tarble Fine Arts Center has been on Eastern’s campus since 1982, and the staff of the center thought of different ways to honor this achievement.  

Jennifer Seas, director and chief curator, let audience members know about what went into this event.  

“As we were thinking about what we wanted to do for our anniversary, we were thinking about the best way to celebrate our anniversary, there’s a lot of different ways,” Seas said. “And certainly, part of that is looking into our history and looking to the past. But that’s not the only way we wanted to commemorate four decades of work here. We also wanted to think about the future, so we’ve been thinking about the way that the past has influenced the present moment, and how our present moment can create new futures with the values that we care about.” 

Seas further explained how inviting artists is the best way to portray this, and that artists make things in the present that exist through the future.  

Seas also talked about the importance of art and artists. 

“They’re really demonstrating what it means to experience time because the way that we experience time is in a body, and the way that we share the experience of time is through storytelling,” Seas said.

Some of the artists specifically made art for the show, Seas said.  

Jessica Nathan, a freshman majoring in business marketing, was present at the event and had a positive opinion of the event.  

“I just like art,” Nathan said. “I like viewing art. I think it’s always been a big part of my life. I love doing art, making art, watching people create art.” 

Ellie Yates, a freshman majoring in marketing, was a student worker at the event and provided information about some of the art pieces. 

“I do know that there are site specific art installations here,” Yates said. “So a lot of the work here is built and made in this museum.” 

Yates also commented on the turnout of the event.  

“I think it’s really cool,” Yates said. “This is my first event working here, so it’s cool to see it come to life.” 

Gallery • 2 Photos

Ashanti Thomas

Barbara Bonnekessen reads the Tarble Arts Center's pamphlet to learn more about the art showcased at the 40th anniversary event. Bonnekessen says the window art by Marie Bannerot McInerney is her favorite piece of the gallery because it tempts you to come back at different times during the day to see the sun shine through.

Marie Bannerot McInerney, an artist present at the event, explained more about her art piece that was on display.  

McInerney’s art piece was displayed on a window that changes appearance depending on how light hits it.  

“I have worked on windows before where I’ve site responsively worked with interacting with the sun and trying to capture moments of the sun as it moves through window space,” McInerney said. “So I was excited to work with Eastern facing windows so that I could capture light as it rises in the morning. The film on these particular windows posed a challenge for me because in the past I have created cement and concrete works that cover the windows so that the light where the apertures are holes in the work allows the light to pass through. And I draw the light on the floor as it comes in but because of the milky film over these windows, the light doesn’t work in the same way.” 

In the description of her work, it states that she uses “opaque materials,” and McInerney gives insight on what that exactly means.  

“In the past, I’ve used concrete and cement to create works like this, but this is actually using primarily plant materials,” McInerney said. “So, it’s cellulose pulp that could be used to make paper, grass fiber called esparto and abaca fiber, which is a leaf fiber.” 

The description of the art work also stated that the piece had a connection between “animal bodies and planetary bodies,” and McInerney clarified the meaning behind that.  

“A lot of the things I think about is how do we place ourselves within these larger systems in the world,” McInerney said.  

McInerney says how people wake up and go on with their day in relation to the sun and how the light changes how we see different things in the world including shadows.  

“In the past when I’ve drawn light coming in, it’s a way for me to interact with the sun in a very small way,” McInerney said. “In essence, we have all these things sort of happening without us really maybe thinking about them and maybe lacking the appreciation or connection to those things on an everyday basis, so trying to create those little moments of recognition and reconnection.” 

Armando Guadalupe Cortés gave a live performance of the completion of his art piece. He gave the audience a performance shortly before unveiling an addition to the original work.   

Gallery • 3 Photos

Ashanti Thomas

As apart of his art showcase, Armando Guadalupe Cortes, writes on his art piece and pulls away a string to reveal words that are covered in clay at the bottom that say "Mas Sabe El Diablo Por Viejo."

Cortés added a string to his hair and slowly walked away from the art piece, which tore apart some of the material from the canvas, which said, “Mas Sabe El Diablo Por Viejo.” When translated to English the text reads, “The Devil Knows More Because He’s Old.”

Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at 581-2812 or at cahardy@eiu.edu.