By Nicole DeLapp
The Scene staff
Tea anyone?
Forest Park students, faculty and staff have joined forces to create an unusual art exhibit with a variety of pieces that revolve around tea.
It’s called “Communi-Tea Culture,” and it’s running through March 3 in the Gallery of Contemporary Art on campus.
“It’s an interdepartmental exhibit where artists push their limits of functionality, which is fun to do,” said Mario Carlos, an adjunct painting professor who has been teaching at Forest Park for 18 years.
Carlos currated the exhibit with Norleen Nosri, a ceramics professor and chair of the visual and performing arts department.
They were assisted by Zachary Petotis, the gallery’s new director. He also teaches printmaking at Forest Park.
The exhibit’s 35 pieces include paintings, photographs, ceramic sculptures, even music. A curated song plays in the background as a way to bring it all together.
“It really is a collaboration of artists,” Carlos said.
Artists were asked to consider the idea of slowing down and enjoying the moment as part of the creative process. Each interpreted that in their own personal way.
Some artwork in the exhibit is detailed, intricate and delicate.
“Generally, tea is functional,” Carlos said. “But the artists can make it complex, too.”
Nosri has an affinity for teapots, which she sees as a representation of “endless giving.” She has created dozens of ceramic sculptures featuring or shaped like teapots over the years.
For the Communi-Tea Culture exhibit, she created five clay-molded teapots and asked five other artists to complete them by painting them.
Students also were invited to submit artwork for the exhibit. Carlos asked those from his classes to bring in teapots from home and use them as the subjects in oil paintings.
Curators selected five oil paintings by students to be displayed in the exhibit.
The Gallery of Contemporary Art is in the Forest Park library building, to the right of the entrance in Room D-118. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Admission is free.
The Communi-Tea Culture exhibit has been popular, attracting about 30 visitors a day, according to Lillie Penick, gallery attendant.
“We get a mix of students and staff,” she said. “Sometimes family members of the artists stop by, too.