Artist Guild begins exhibition

Hundreds of blue and orange balloons were stretched in an arch from the Blauhaus Gallery at 33rd and Chestnut streets to the Morgan Building Monday morning, spelling out "art" in Morse code. Inside Blauhaus, ink dripped from a frozen ink jet down a 23-foot piece of brown paper. And three brightly-colored bottles -- in blue, orange and yellow -- enclosed a duck, baby and monkey. These exhibits are all part of the Penn Artist Guild's gallery show, which opened Monday and will continue through October 27. The purpose of the exhibit is to infuse the community with awareness of the range of artists on campus and to begin to form an active artistic community of students and faculty, according to College senior and Artist Guild Co-founder Bryanna Millis. College senior and Co-Founder Rori Duboff quoted the words of author Beauvais Lyons in explaining the group's goal. "The public should be encouraged to think of the university of a lab in which varying cultural and intellectual perspectives can interact," she read from a large poster at the entrance to the exhibit. "When art is permitted to function as a part of this process, it can best serve the mission of the university and the community at large." Duboff explained that most visitors reacted strongly to the quote. "[The statement] focuses on a problem we have at the University -- namely that art cannot be isolated," she said. "It is relevant to all students." College senior Adam Matta's work "Put Up or Shut Up," the balloon chain, reflected the group's desire to make students more aware about art. "The original concept came to me at the first meeting of the Art Guild," he explained. "Half of the people who attended didn't even know where the art buildings were. I thought we should have had a map to give out, but instead I decided to make a huge [visual] map and hammer it into people's head." College junior Matthew Blanchard, creator of the colored jar piece called "Select Friends," said the arch asks people to "connect and wake up. "Art at Penn is waking up and coming to its fruition," he explained. "That's what the exhibit is all about." College sophomore Joshua Schuster, who created "Weathered Ink," explained that his work essentially imitates nature and the natural operation of art. "We need to impress undergraduate life with something different," he explained. "The Art Guild is an excellent forum to exchange ideas and interact on a social aesthetic level." Many in attendance at Monday night's opening celebration agreed with Guild members that art must become a bigger priority on campus. "I usually go downtown to see art and it makes me feel really good to see it right here," said Engineering junior Ratna Amin. "Penn students are really trying to do something about art." College senior Neil Sachs agreed, explaining that he was happy to see so many people at the exhibit. "Penn needs more balloon statues and things like it," he said.