Trio of artists featured at Third Floor Gallery

-- Dara Trooien

Nancy Robinson, Jacqueline Kielkopf and Tiffany Besonen were featured for their creative work regarding identity at the "Memory, Myth and Metaphor" art exhibit opening. It was presented at The Third Floor Gallery located in Metropolitan State University’s Library and Learning Center.

Robinson’s work was hung on one wall. It was vibrant and detailed. She used similar backgrounds and the same character, a young woman, in all of her paintings and used bright colors such as green, red and purple.

On the opposite wall, Kielkopf’s paintings were displayed. She used oils on plaster on wood to create her pieces. It was quite a contrast from the vivacious colors that Robinson used. Kielkopf used brown, tan, black and grey and chose to paint inanimate objects.

Placed throughout the gallery was the work of artist Tiffany Besonen. She used beeswax and basswood to create sculptures of accordion looking art.

People of all ages wandered through the gallery and approximately 15 people total were there at one time. One student, Brenda Brown, who was early for class, walked through the art opening and thought it was very interesting. Brown, an ethnic studies major said she liked the colors that Robinson used in her paintings and how they stood out.

Kris Lowe, interim gallery director says the gallery is an educational resource and is part of a two-credit class available at Metropolitan State University. Students learn about exhibition practices and how different galleries function. All galleries have different mission statements and accomplish different things with the community, she says.

Robinson, Kielkopf and Besonen are professional artists that address individual realities about memory, myth and metaphor in their lives through the process of making their work. Lowe says that it’s not overtly about only women and metaphor. It just happened to be what brought all three artists together.

At 6 p.m., a theatrical performance by Heidi Arneson entitled "Ten Bedroom Heart —A Valentine to the Secret World of Girlhood" was presented in a nearby conference room. It also fit the theme of memory, myth and metaphor by investigating identity, according to Lowe. Arneson has performed "Ten Bedroom Heart," an autobiographical story about being a young girl, throughout Minnesota. It is an excerpt from a longer piece.

Goals of the Third Floor Gallery are to highlight art that brings different insights into a community, and through that art possibly join that community together as a group, according to Lowe.