Art Students Visit University Museum Collections

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Skeletons from a gibbon, a two-toed sloth and a gray fox took center stage when students from the Department of Art in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences recently visited the University of Arkansas Museum Collections this semester for drawing inspiration.

The spooky subject matter wasn't part of a pre-Halloween exercise. Rather, the students attending these field trips are from the Observation and Visualization section of a nine-credit course called ARTS 1919C: Studio Foundations I. In this class, students learn to closely observe the world around them by recording what they see on paper.

The art classes have been going on the field trips to study and practice drawing the bilateral symmetry and unique structures of animal skeletons. These skeletons and other artifacts in the collections have been perfect for practice, said Kasey Ramirez, the course's instructor.

The UA Museum Collections holds millions of objects including specimens from the disciplines of archeology, ethnography, geology, history and zoology. Ramirez, who also teaches Printmaking in the Art Department, said she was astonished to learn about this little-known resource that could greatly benefit her students. 

"I found out about UA Museum Collections from a fellow colleague in the Art Department and immediately contacted them to set up an appointment to see what they have," Ramirez said. "What a hidden gem! Mary Suter and Nancy McCartney have been wonderfully welcoming and accommodating to our art classes coming to see and work from the collection."

Ramirez said the goal of these drawing exercises is to help students notice and analyze the gesture and proportions of the animal skeletons, and to practice the technique of drawing broadly at the beginning, while looking at large volumes and angles, before progressing to more specific details.

For her students, the experience was one-of-a-kind and many were so engrossed in the project they said they didn't even notice time passing. 

"The UA Collections were truly inspiring, I loved seeing the mass of history that was gathered in one building, and I felt sad that I couldn't look through every drawer in that place," said Brooke Aldridge, a sophomore who attended one of the drawing field trips. "The skeletons we drew were striking, especially with the knowledge that some were extinct. It mystifies me to see the past captured like that. I really loved the experience, and my curiosity will probably take me back there someday."

The UA Museum Collections are made accessible to faculty, qualified students and visiting scholars for exhibition, research, education and loan purposes. They are kept at the University of Arkansas Collections Facility, which can be found at the University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station.