By Jake Fain
Staff Writer
Lee Benson, professor of art and department chairman, took 14 art students on a gallery-hopping trip last week in New York City. The trip was originally planned for 2012 but was postponed until now because of hurricanes in the Northeast last spring.
“This allows students to see the major mecca of the visual arts and world-class work,” Benson said.
“The work you see in New York City you won’t see here in the South. Also, some students are a little timid about working in big cities, so it gives them the opportunity to realize that it is no difference from downtown Jackson. Everything is the same — but bigger.”
The Potters Guild, a campus organization, raised more than $2,000 for the trip with a pottery sale in 2012. The money was used to pay for the 18-hour drive and other expenses, the most expensive of which was lodging.
After arriving on March 14, Benson led the students to several popular galleries including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and galleries in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan.
The Museum of Modern Art had just installed artist Wolfgang Laib’s work when the group arrived. Benson did not want students to miss this installation because of Laib’s great acclaim.
The trip provided a wonderful opportunity to visit New York, but it was not simply for the joy of sightseeing.
Students also used this opportunity to examine current professional artists’ work and to see what the career gallery life of an artist entails.
“I hope that they would be more intensive in their experience in higher learning and that it would be an affirmation that higher learning is a gift from God,” Benson said.
“Part of higher learning is the experience. You can talk about great art, see slides of great art and watch PBS series on great cities, but the experience of art and major metropolitan cities is an educational opportunity that you cannot replicate in the classroom.”