‘Beehive Collective’ exhibit at PSU features work of many student artists

PLYMOUTH — The Karl Drerup Gallery and Exhibitions Program at Plymouth State University presents "The Beehive Collective," a collection of final and process art work, along with large banner pieces from the Collective's Mesoamérica Resiste project, November 10 through December 13 in the Karl Drerup Art Gallery at PSU. A gallery opening will be held from 4–6 p.m. Monday, November 10.

The exhibition reveals what it is like to work in an artist collective, a model that is becoming widespread in the art world. Many collectives protect their members' names, providing anonymity due to the nature of the issues and content of their work. Some artist collectives deal with issues that are political and controversial, while others challenge the boundaries of "what is art." Still other collectives are more concerned with establishing a community of artists, sharing the authorship.

A significant portion of The Beehive Collective exhibition is showing the process of making art, and in this case the central process is drawing. The artist members of the Collective, "the worker bees," take the traditional drawing medium into a contemporary framework to use the images to convey important messages and ideas. All posters, banners, drawings, etc. are created by the group with anywhere from two to dozens of artist's ideas and personal drawings incorporated into the finished pieces.

Mesoamérica Resiste was nine years in the making. The large-format printed graphic tells stories of grassroots organizing and community resilience from Mexico to Columbia while also celebrating cultural and ecological diversity. This project has at its core the values of resilience, resistance and solidarity in relation to these communities.

Students in the PSU museum studies class Objects and Collections, led by Professor of Art History Jayme Yahr, curated the exhibition, arranging the works for display. Yahr says that for her the project is about student engagement and hands-on work. It is also about making a collection of objects speak to the process of the Beehive and to the process of the viewer. She tasked the students to "get close to the work, spend time with it, and create a map of what ideas you notice and how they connect to each other."

Students participating in the curatorial project are Stefanie DeSimone, a senior art education major from Orford; Michael Desroches, a senior history major from Stratham; Taylor Falcone, a junior early childhood studies major from New Fairfield, Conn.; Jeffrey Reynolds, a senior business administration major from Nashua; Marjorie Salvatore, a senior theatre arts major from New London and Rebecca White, a senior history major from Nashua.

Special gallery events connected to the exhibition include: A popup exhibit in the Shoebox Gallery inside the Drerup Gallery throughout the exhibition includes postcards created by elementary, high school and university students and members of the community with a drawing, painting, collage, photo or mixed media composition on them in response to the words "bee," "community" and "resilience," says Gallery Director Cynthia Robinson, "The diversity of media, interpretations and creative thinking displayed in the wide array of postcard responses speak directly to the Collective's universal values and the essential narratives of their graphic works."

General information about events at Plymouth State University is online at ThisWeek@PSU, http: thisweek.blogs.plymouth.edu.