Pitt Presents Studio Arts Wyoming Field Study Exhibition Jan. 11-Feb. 3

An exhibition featuring the work of University of Pittsburgh art students inspired by the High Plains near Rock River, Wyo., will take place from Jan. 11 to Feb. 3 in Pitt’s University Art Gallery, Frick Fine Arts Building. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays except for Monday, Jan. 16, when the gallery will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

An opening reception for the exhibition will take place in the Frick Fine Arts Building from 4 to 6 p.m. Jan. 11; the student artists will be present in the exhibition area to discuss their work at noon Jan. 25. All events are free and open to the public.

The summer of 2011 marked the third year that Pitt art students enrolled in an intensive three-credit, 16-day studio arts field study on the Cook Ranch—4,700 acres of land rich with dinosaur fossils that was donated to Pitt in 2006 by Wyoming rancher Allen Cook. The art course overlapped with a six-week Pitt paleoecology course that in 2011 included a one-week study of Western literature. All the courses were offered through Pitt’s University Honors College as part of an ongoing commitment by the University to use the land for education and research. The four student artists represented in the exhibition, all enrolled in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, include:

• Ashley Michele Bowen, a senior from Penfield, N.Y., who is a double major in studio arts and anthropology;

• Nicole Hall, a senior from Lewiston, N.Y., who is a double major in studio arts  and English writing;

• Josephine Norton, a senior from Pittsburgh who is a double major in studio arts and Japanese; and

• Tyler Shine, a junior from McKeesport, Pa., who is a history of art and architecture  major.

The exhibition will include paintings, drawings, prints, installation art, photography, and video.