Arts & Entertainment

Sculpture club art on view in garden

By Stefan Breitweiser
The Daily Cougar

Yesterday marked the opening of the University of Houstonis very own sculpture garden. The garden, located inside and outside of the UH art department across Calhoun Road from the main campus at the Wheeler Avenue intersection, features pieces from both UH graduate students and undergraduates alike.

Kicking off this event properly was a showcase featuring an adult fashion show held by UH graduate student Chéy Rickman, along with the ambient audio-visual included in "Panteras Negras," a piece created by Donna Huanca and sculpture club president Mariana Saldana. Among the list of artists showcased are A.J. Iiberto, Melissa Echavarria, Nancy DeMott, Aram Nagle, Lisa Reznicek, Jason Knuke and Daniel Fabian.

All pieces featured are modern works of metal, wood and many other mediums. The artists convey their message by twisting humanity to bring the admirer away from emotions, leaving them contemplating the cerebral aspects of the artwork. 

Saldana very eloquently described our new garden as "testing the human intellectual capacity." Not all of the artwork will be outside in the garden, however, as Senior sculpture major Lisa Reznicek will have several pieces inside the building itself, including a Clint Eastwood watercolor as her own modern depiction of "Spaghetti Westerns." Although Reznicek agreed her pieces are modern, she strays from the term "modern art," as she and other students deem the stereotype "the bane of our existence."

With such wonderful weather, there is no reason not to visit the Universityis new garden between classes, after school or on the weekend. Now college students will be able to enjoy brilliant, cutting edge art without braving the hustle and bustle of rigorous downtown traffic, suicidal pedestrians and fellow drivers with road rage. 

Bring your thinking cap, your lunch and your books if you so choose, but come support our aspiring artists on their way to world recognition and admiration.

Send comments to dcshobiz@mail.uh.edu