Gallery lobby hosts inspired menagerie of masks

A variety of creative creatures has gathered in the lobby of The Gallery at Penn College – and the campus community is invited to view the inventive offerings.

Crafted by students in two Spring 2021 classes of Wood Sculpture (ART142), 25 wood masks are on display. The masks are made from a block of pine wood and were carved by hand with gouges, mallets and rasps.

Students took inspiration from African masks and were required to utilize basic design principles such as repetition, variation and negative space. Instructor David A. Stabley encouraged them to enhance the uniqueness of their pieces by incorporating color, texture and mixed-media additions.

“I like art in general, but I never did anything like this before,” said Deven W. Carson, a welding and fabrication engineering technology student from State College. “It’s cool to get out of my element and do something I’m less experienced in. It’s fun!” For Vincent A. Travascio, a building automation technology student from Wildwood, New Jersey, “This is just something else to do, working with my hands; it comes naturally to me.”

The lobby exhibit is available for viewing during regular gallery hours – 2 to 8 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays – and will be on display through May 7. (There is currently no exhibit in the gallery, however “Not a Breath of Wind,” an exhibit of kinetic sculptures by John Powers is available at the gallery website. Graphic Design 2021, the annual portfolio exhibition of graduating graphic design students, will run April 26 through May 7 in the gallery.)

The Gallery at Penn College is on the third floor of the Madigan Library and accessible via the building’s front elevator or stairs.

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