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The Beaumont Enterprise - News - Local
It was a bicultural experience - not involving countries, but senses.
Deaf Education students at Lamar University spoke using sign language Wednesday as they offered their interpretations of eight artists' work.
Hearing-speaking students observed the same work without the deaf culture experience.
"I never really thought about it as a special part of art," said Katy Dubuisson, a senior art major who can hear and speak.
"It was interesting to see how they used art for their own culture."
One work of art is seen from two different perspectives.
This is the opportunity that community members have on Friday when eight deaf artists from across the United States and the world will convene at Lamar University's Dishman Art Museum for a panel discussion and opening reception.
The exhibit, titled "Deaf Artists in the Community & Schools," features 40 pieces of artwork ranging from the realistic to the abstract, as well as pop art.
Paintings, graphic art and even wooden gourds are among the pieces.
The art expresses values of deaf culture, wrote Brenda Schertz, a deaf studies professor at the University of Southern Maine and a deaf art curator.
Those include, "the beauty of sign language and its oppression, the joys of deaf bonding, communication breakdowns, the discovery of language, community, and the history of deaf people," Schertz wrote.
The exhibit arrives courtesy of a $9,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, along with money from Lamar University. Deaf Education professor Jean Andrews and Dishman Art Museum Director Lynne Lokensgard applied for the NEA grant the first time two years ago.
The National Endowment for the Arts had twice rejected Lamar before the school finally succeeded, Andrews said.
With this exhibit, Andrews and Lokensgard hope not only to expand the reach of the deaf culture experience, but also encourage a greater focus on deaf art in deaf education.
"The deaf visual arts are a part of deaf culture," said Andrews. "Culture includes its history, literature, performing arts, dramatic arts. We want to teach our teachers how to incorporate deaf culture into the curriculum and what better way to do it than through deaf art?"
Cary McKeller, a 32-year-old Deaf Education student at Lamar, said he felt a connection with the artists after a walk-through Wednesday.
"It opened a new door for me, because growing up I thought I was the only one who felt that way," said McKeller, who has been deaf since he was 2.
The Art and Deaf Education departments will create an educational DVD about the artwork and artists for distribution to about 50 deaf schools nationwide, Andrews said. Students from both departments will interview the artists about their work.
At Friday's event, each panelist will be projected on a screen so everyone can see them signing, according to a university news release.
Voice interpreters will interpret signing into spoken language for the hearing-speaking community and a screen will provide a closed-captioning-type experience, according to the release. The exhibit runs through April 17.
It was a bicultural experience - not involving countries, but senses.
Deaf Education students at Lamar University spoke using sign language Wednesday as they offered their interpretations of eight artists' work.
Hearing-speaking students observed the same work without the deaf culture experience.
"I never really thought about it as a special part of art," said Katy Dubuisson, a senior art major who can hear and speak.
"It was interesting to see how they used art for their own culture."
One work of art is seen from two different perspectives.
This is the opportunity that community members have on Friday when eight deaf artists from across the United States and the world will convene at Lamar University's Dishman Art Museum for a panel discussion and opening reception.
The exhibit, titled "Deaf Artists in the Community & Schools," features 40 pieces of artwork ranging from the realistic to the abstract, as well as pop art.
Paintings, graphic art and even wooden gourds are among the pieces.
The art expresses values of deaf culture, wrote Brenda Schertz, a deaf studies professor at the University of Southern Maine and a deaf art curator.
Those include, "the beauty of sign language and its oppression, the joys of deaf bonding, communication breakdowns, the discovery of language, community, and the history of deaf people," Schertz wrote.
The exhibit arrives courtesy of a $9,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, along with money from Lamar University. Deaf Education professor Jean Andrews and Dishman Art Museum Director Lynne Lokensgard applied for the NEA grant the first time two years ago.
The National Endowment for the Arts had twice rejected Lamar before the school finally succeeded, Andrews said.
With this exhibit, Andrews and Lokensgard hope not only to expand the reach of the deaf culture experience, but also encourage a greater focus on deaf art in deaf education.
"The deaf visual arts are a part of deaf culture," said Andrews. "Culture includes its history, literature, performing arts, dramatic arts. We want to teach our teachers how to incorporate deaf culture into the curriculum and what better way to do it than through deaf art?"
Cary McKeller, a 32-year-old Deaf Education student at Lamar, said he felt a connection with the artists after a walk-through Wednesday.
"It opened a new door for me, because growing up I thought I was the only one who felt that way," said McKeller, who has been deaf since he was 2.
The Art and Deaf Education departments will create an educational DVD about the artwork and artists for distribution to about 50 deaf schools nationwide, Andrews said. Students from both departments will interview the artists about their work.
At Friday's event, each panelist will be projected on a screen so everyone can see them signing, according to a university news release.
Voice interpreters will interpret signing into spoken language for the hearing-speaking community and a screen will provide a closed-captioning-type experience, according to the release. The exhibit runs through April 17.