Mia Fischel, Asst. Features Editor-
The Studio Art Lending Library is a new initiative created by Sheilah ReStack, professor and chair of Studio Art. The event allows Studio Art majors and minors to introduce their work to a larger audience of Denison staff.
The process is relatively simple– students choose work which they want to circulate in the library, faculty pick pieces to hang in their offices, and after a year of renting, they are returned.
“It’s a wonderful way for student work to live past their date of graduation and for them to have some kind of connection to Denison through the work and the people who will decide to live with it for years and years to come,” ReStack said.
Studio technician Shahid Khan, Lauren Dyer ‘24 and Chloe Chai ‘25 were instrumental in installing the event. As in a library, Dyer and Chai helped to catalog the pieces on display.
The library also serves as a way for students to see responses to their work from people other than professors or peers in class. In the future, they hope to extend the program to Denison students and the greater Granville area.
“The lending library allows that work to go out into the world and I think that’s really a crucial part of learning how your artmaking or creative practice can impact the world,” ReStack said.
The event ended successfully with every piece chosen for various department offices and spaces across campus.
“I was just blown away by the response, to be honest, and it just shows me how much art means to our community and how important it is to live with the creative works of students and others in our world,” ReStack said. “There was even a person there who had never been in the art building even though she’s been at Denison for over 20 years, and this was her first time to visit the art building, to choose a piece of work.”