UNI’s Art Department faculty had the chance to show off their skills on Monday night at the Kamerick Art Building during the biennial Art Faculty Exhibition. The exhibit featured art of all different kinds of media, such as graphic design, ceramics, painting, photography and performance art. The event was open to all students and the public.

“This is something we do every two years,” said Darrel Taylor, the director of the Gallery of Art. “The purpose is to let the students […] know what the art faculty is doing and see their brand new work.”

According to Taylor, the event is not sponsored, but rather a collaboration of the UNI Art Department and the gallery. Taylor also said that each art faculty member has an opportunity to bring new work out and display it at the gallery.

A few of the artists were at the exhibition to talk about their work, as well as see what other faculty members had on display. Aypryl Pippert, an art instructor at UNI, put on a performance art display that involved sucking on a cinnamon candy heart and then spitting into a large cup. Pippert also had super-sized suckers of different flavors set up nearby that were interactive for students and the public.

Tim Dooley, Jeffery Byrd, and Kenneth Hall were also at the event with their works on display. Byrd contributed performance art that was recorded and put onto television screens in the exhibit.

“You could say that my works have really been influenced by the past year,” Byrd said. “Oddly enough, I think they’ve turned out to be more humorous than I would have thought.”

Byrd said that his works have been displayed outside of UNI at locations such as Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Berlin, Tokyo and Beijing.

Hall talked briefly about the paintings he hadon display. According to Hall, his paintings were a last minute rush. However, he said that the paintings were done in layers, or ‘phases’.

“A couple of these pieces have been worked on in an early phase. Sometimes, I plunge back into the painting to give it a different look and new life,” Hall said. “The pieces are always about a fragment in space. There’s always at least two different competing spaces that happen within the same picture.”

Like Byrd, Hall has also had his art displayed across the world, including in Germany and New York City. Hall said that he gives visiting artist talks at numerous universities across the United States.

One student who attended the Faculty Art Exhibition was Kailie Hesner, a freshman majoring in art at UNI. Hesner heard about the event from Hall who is her drawing professor.

“Alex Dooley’s piece, the colorful paint on the glass, inspired me. I read about how Dooley works with people in the community who have mental health issues,” Hesner said. “That has been something that hits close to home for me. It was cool to see someone work with other people on that, and see the piece that was created because of it.”

According to Hesner, it was interesting to see the art that her professors were making outside of class. Hesner also said that she would definitely come back to the next Art Faculty Exhibition.

Another student in attendance at the exhibit was freshman Micah Smith, an art studio emphasis major. Smith said that he was most inspired by Hall’s paintings.

“[Hall’s] paintings are really cool, and I talked to him about them,” Smith said. “It was fun to have a conversation with him about his work and his process.”

The Art Faculty Exhibit will be on display through Nov. 17. Until then, students and the public are welcome to come through and see the works of UNI’s art department faculty members.