Missouri Southern’s Art Dept. will be “Re-Inventing the Renaissance” beginning Sept. 18. The event, which will showcase Italian renaissance-inspired artwork, will be held in the Spiva Art Gallery located on campus, and is part of Southern’s ongoing Italian-themed semester.

    “We had a slot available [in our schedule], and we thought ‘What could we do with it?” said Christine Bentley, associate professor of art. “We already had the Italian photographs [exhibit], which was very successful, and then we thought ‘Well, it would be nice to continue with the theme of the Italy semester.”

    According to Bentley, the department initially catered the idea of featuring works of art by Italian renaissance master-artists themselves, but quickly moved on to the idea of showcasing renaissance-inspired student work instead.

    “Of course, it wouldn’t have been the best exhibition to just have reprints of say Da Vinchi or Michelangelo or Rafael,” said Bentley. “So, we thought it would be interesting to have those prints in there as inspiration for student work instead.”

    Approximately 60 different students from across the campus, as well as select faculty members, are expected to be showcased during the exhibit–each representing a variety of media and courses.

    “Some of the work I’ve seen is really quality work, especially for the timeframe they’ve been given.” said Bentley. “They’re working really quite hard to create some quality work.”

    The art dept. will also hold an opening reception for the exhibition on Sept. 23 from 4:30pm-6:00pm.

    “I think the exhibition is going to be a little bit different from what we’ve done in the past because we’re trying to do something that is educational,” said Bentley. “It’s an exhibition that is intended to inform people about our historical movements and various art processes.”