UT Graduating Art Majors Exhibit Work

Though she began her time at The University of Tampa as a graphic design major, Sarah Novio soon discovered a love for painting after taking a course with Chris Valle, associate professor of art.

“Chris has had a great influence on me,” said Novio, who hails from New Port Richey, FL. “[His] courses challenged me to create the best work I can and helped me understand what it means to make a body of work that means something to me.”

Beginning today, Novio will join three of her fellow graduating fine arts students for the BFA Exit Show Dec. 5–15 at the Scarfone/Hartley Gallery. There will be a closing reception Friday, Dec. 15 from 7–9 p.m.

Novio is showing several pieces from a series she calls “The Lipstick Series,” which she describes as expressing the struggle between vulnerability and conformity.

Along with Novio, the student-artists are John Brennan, a digital arts major from Manorville, NY; Ashley Southard, a graphic design major from Beachwood, OH; and Kara Stamets, a graphic design major from Rockville, MD.

Each student will present work in their area of expertise, including painting, computer graphics, graphic design, animation and mixed media.

Brennan is presenting six 3-D environments and a character model. He said he always liked art and drawing, but it was a 3-D animation class at UT that helped him realize just animating objects and characters wasn’t enough.

“I actually loved building and creating the characters, scenes, and objects more than animating them,” he said. “And so I'm a digital arts major with a concentration in modeling and texturing for 3-D animation.”

The gallery is located on campus at the R.K. Bailey Art Studios, 310 North Boulevard, and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. There is no charge for admission.

For more information, contact Dorothy Cowden, gallery director, at (813) 253-6217 or dcoweden@ut.edu.