Activities
The Pequod is a biannual student-run publication that exhibits the creative work of Colby’s artists and writers. The magazine has been a major part of Colby’s Creative Writing program since 1968, though its organization and activities have evolved over the years. Faculty previously had a larger role both as contributors and editors and there was once collaboration with Mary-Low Coffeehouse to host live readings and displays of the artwork. Today the editors’ efforts to gather and share submissions to the magazine help inspire and reveal the creativity in Colby students.
The Pequod welcomes submissions from all Colby students, whether they be involved directly in Creative Writing or the Art Department or engage in creative work independently. Each semester a student panel selects magazine content from a large body of material that includes poetry, prose, drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography. For more information about the Pequod, please contact the magazine’s co-editors, Victoria Cheff at [email protected] or Jess Greenwald at [email protected].
The Colby Liberal Arts Symposium (CLAS) is an annual celebration of student scholarship held in late April. The Colby community comes together to recognize and celebrate students’ many forms of scholarly engagement.
Each year students from art history and studio courses share their work at CLAS. Their presentations have included studio visits, slide lectures and discussions, and talks in the Colby College Museum of Art.
In 2016 students from The Visual Culture of Tattooing (AR473) were featured among the Wildcard sessions. Watch the full presentation: Visual Culture of Tattooing.
The Senior Exhibition is held each spring in the Davis Curricular Gallery at the Colby College Museum of Art.
Participants have studied four or more semesters in a given medium and have had their work selected for inclusion by a jury of Studio Art faculty. The opening reception is one of the highlights of the academic year and includes the distribution of several juried awards for achievement in studio arts. Two studio art prizes are awarded at the opening of the Senior Exhibition.
In 2017 the Art Department started the tradition of publishing the first Senior Exhibition catalog. This color publication results from a collaboration between Studio Art capstone students under the direction of their professor and students enrolled in Professor Daniel Harkett’s Writing Art Criticism course. It includes artist statements as well as critical essays on each body of work in the exhibition.
The Pottery Club, located in the studio on the ground floor of Roberts Hall, offers its members unlimited access to clay, pottery wheels, glazes, and kiln firings. The fees to participate are $15 for the full school year or $10 for one semester.
Throughout the academic year students offer wheel lessons and workshops to the club members. The two advisors (Nancy Meader and Melissa Hartz) order clay and supplies, recycle clay, mix glazes, fire the three kilns, and keep the equipment in working order (with the help of the great folks in Physical Plant).
For information about the club, contact Pottery Club Presidents Evan Pfau ([email protected]) and Cole Burkhart ([email protected]) or Vice President Joe Yauch ([email protected]).