In finishing her Master in Fine Arts degree with Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Erika Stearly found grant funding from Black Rock Foundation to install her interactive “Take a Painting” project at Studio B Fine Art Gallery in Boyertown, PA, during November 2014.
Stearly will present her project to the community as a presentation during Bob Wood’s “Cheap Date Night,” scheduled for Friday, November 21, 2014, from 7 to 8 p.m. at Studio B and as a drop-in activity on Saturday and Sunday, November 22 and 23, 2014, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at Studio B as part of the art community’s annual Fall into Winter Tour.
Stearly describes the “Take a Painting” project as a “highly interactive installation, community-driven and accessible to the public, blurring the boundaries between artist, viewer and collector.”
How it works: visitors to Studio B are invited to participate in the creation of paintings on paper and to take a painting with them. On the gallery’s wall are dozens of small paintings. Paper and art supplies are provided which visitors are to use to create their own paintings. They are asked to help themselves to a painting and replace it with one they have created.
As viewers choose a complimentary painting, their new works will be added to the display; therefore, the installation will be in a constant state of visual flux.
Stearly explains, “The ‘Take a Painting’ project challenges traditional perspectives on art by emphasizing everyone’s capacity to create and own works of art. Participants can choose to engage with the project for any length of time, through producing, displaying and curating their own collection of paintings on paper. Choosing and removing a painting from the installation allows viewers to continue to reflect on the experience long after the event is over.”
