A celebration of Blake Smith
Elisa Wells, Staff Writer
Photo by Elisa Wells
After the passing of Blake Smith, a cherished art professor for over 20 years at North Greenville University, the art department has set out to host an art exhibition as a retrospective of the work he completed at NGU and the Art Bomb Studio, a community of artists that Smith was a part of.
The exhibit will also include pieces from current students, alumni, and members of the Art Bomb Studios, with the intention to honor him with pieces made in his memory.
As Hayley De Gonzalez, chair of the art department, was curating the pieces that would be included, she wanted to provide a good sampling of older pieces, collaged pieces that he created and pieces that were a part of his current body of work.
A lot of Smith’s work had a common theme of family ties and family history.
“You’ll see things stitched together. You’ll see these, um, he would love to collect. He would go antiquing, he would collect things and he’d create clauses out of that, just kind of these lost pieces of history that are clustered together and given, a new, breath of life, really,” said De Gonzalez.
In the art department, there is talk about making a permanent exhibit for Smith on the exterior of the Art Department Chair office and in the photography studio. Smith had a vast collection of cameras and during the faculty show, his work will be put up.
The exhibition will take place in the Rosti Gallery, located in The Studio at the 414 building and will be on display from February 18 through April 24. It will be open to the public Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
