By: Logan Hubert
“The main problem with drawing and painting is that it isn’t credible anymore in the 21st century” said Dr. Randall Rhodes who presented the “Green Art Education in Armenia” for one of this years Focus Frostburg presentations. Dr. Rhodes, a professor in the Department of Visual Arts, spoke of Art History in America, but mainly focused on Armenia where he traveled to within the last couple of years.
He spoke of the history of Armenia, which was said to be in a “state of panic.” The Catholic country is 1/4th the size that it use to be because it was split up after the Soviet Union was dismantled. Half of the plants in Armenia are in danger of becoming extinct. Dr. Rhodes said that most of the deforestation that occurs there is from people just trying to find a way to survive. “If they can’t fix nature, they can’t heal the country,” said Dr. Rhodes.
Dr. Rhodes then showed the audience, which was packed full of interested students in the Lane Center early Wednesday morning, many intriguing pictures and videos, which seemed to connect with the spectators. One of the first pictures he showed was a man standing on top of a pile of garbage in a trash dump searching for anything to sell so he and his family could eat that day. Each picture told a fascinating story with an incredible back story to it.
Dr. Rhodes stated “Art is a tool of social change that has become very selfish, but will it rise to the occasion?” After what he showed the audience, I would have to say that art is definitely rising to the occasion just because of the The Tufenkian Project, which is a reforestation mission that actively try to engage the youth of Armenia. “By looking at the childrens art, we see their values and how they visualize the world” he said. The students were said to have wrote their ideas down before they drew or painted. Dr. Rhodes said, “If you can’t think in terms of words, you can’t think in terms of pictures.” Most paintings and drawings that were shown clearly demonstrated what they want in their ideal world. One example of this was a stained glass painting that had clean water, vegetation, and fruit all circling the sun.
In my opinion, the presentation was worth the 15 minute wait because of technical difficulties they faced. The entire production was very rewarding in the end and was very informative. The middle schoolers who made the award winning videos around the nation and internationally were very cool and were my favorite part of the presentation along with the different stories behind the pictures. If you attened this Focus Frostburg event, you got a lot of knowledge and if you weren't, you definitely need to catch it next year!
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