Student artists to be featured in the annual Arthouse event

The USF School of Art & Art History’s annual Arthouse helps connect the student body with artists on campus, allowing for open dialogue and an opportunity to see into the creative process of fellow students.

Arthouse will be taking place March 30 in the Art History building from 8-11 p.m. and will be celebrating its 20th year creating its annual Arthouse.

The production is an open house style event with free food, drinks and music. However, the main purpose of the event is to display student artwork in a unique and interesting way.

Marie O’Neil, the Academic Program Specialist for the USF School of Art & Art History said she is proud of this year’s Arthouse contents. 

“All exhibitions are focused on student artwork,” O’Neil said. “The purpose is to put our student artwork on display during one big party.”

The annual Arthouse also provides an outlet for local USF musicians to play for event attendees, with a four hour time gap dedicated to musicianship on campus.

Elizabeth Keel, a senior majoring in fine arts, is participating in the Arthouse for the second time. The format of the event allows for attendees to approach each artist in an organic way, letting them directly ask any questions they may have regarding the student’s artwork.

“As a working artist, many of us will be displaying our own work and will be answering questions from the public and getting feedback,” Keel said. “This year, I will personally be having a number of things to discuss, which includes some of my social justice issues which will be addressed in my installation, such as the March for Our Lives movement and awareness for domestic violence.”

According to Keel, artists and attendees alike will have the opportunity to experience a multitude of art styles, as the event encourages as many different styles of art as possible. 

“The most amazing thing about Arthouse is being able to see all of the artwork on display from classes that you did not have the opportunity to take yet and other disciplines, which are so fascinating and inspiring,” Keel said.

With a lineup ranging from graduate exhibitions to undergraduate exhibitions, participants will have plenty to see while roaming around the event.

“It’s amazing to see the range of work and by far my favorite thing is visiting the studios,” Keel said. “It is always such a pleasure to talk to the artists, to see my fellow artist’s work and get to sit down with them and talk about it. It’s also inspiring to see into the creative minds of others, looking at various totems or studio detritus is laying around.”

For Keel, art is more than just a school activity, it is a loved and appreciated concept.

“I always find myself thinking about how art is in everything, and that everything people do is a form of artistry or craft,” Keel said. “People think of the stereotypes of art, which are funny and true in many cases, but its the accessibility of what people think art ‘is’ that throws everything off.”

People have many misconceptions about art, and Keel hopes to educate fellow students on art’s ability to show its face in everything. 

“While there is a massive disparity between funding for football versus art and music, you can argue that the physicality, the coordination of the sport itself is an art,” Keel said. “We draw diagrams to mock up plays, we wear T-shirts and buy cars that were designed by artists, we live in houses and neighborhoods that from the top down look like circuit boards and organized into geometric patterns. Can we not say the engineering and architecture to create buildings is art?”