ALFRED – The Alfred University (AU) Interdisci-plinary Art (IART) Major welcomes viewers to attend the IART Senior Exhibition, highlighting the development of 10 artists who have been classmates and colleagues for the last four years.

“The Basement Show,” opening with a public reception Friday from 5-8 p.m. in the Brick Studios Basement Gallery on campus, is a multimedia group exhibition featuring new work in drawing, sculpture, ceramics, painting, print, digital and neon installation, performance, and more.

The exhibition’s open hours will continue Saturday and Sunday, May 10 and 11, from 3-6 p.m. and Monday and Tuesday, May 12 and 13 from noon-6 p.m.

The show will feature the work of Jennifer Anderson from Brooklyn; Tara Barone, Derby; Malone Barth, Rochester; Abbie Cianfrocco, Westmoreland; Katie Fortier, Westminster, MA; Mariam Hudson, Pittsburgh, PA; Trish Kaiser, Harrington Park; NJ; Danielle Mastropierro, northern New Jersey; Timothy Pauszek, Dunkirk; and Nora Peters, Pittsburgh.

The opening reception will feature refreshments and music by John Webber from Dunkirk. Webber has played in many bands with a variety of music styles from rock-and-roll to heavy-metal and fronts the local pop-punk band Living Saints.

Anderson, a mixed media, 2D artist, is presenting a series that uses new technologies to question the ambiguity of the term “fine art.” Her GIFs (graphics interchange formats) and digital prints challenge the aesthetic of new and innovative Internet-friendly artwork.

Barone’s mixed-media paintings, incorporating hair and fingernails, explore metaphysical aspects of the human body relating to chakra energies of the nonphysical self. Barone is concentrating her studies on art history and theory and has interned at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo as an archivist and at HEREarts Center, New York City as a preparatory and marketing assistant.

Barth creates drawings and collages of cartoon monsters that merge imagination with humor. Related is her interest in Street Art and how it fits into the museum/gallery tradition of the art world.

Cianfrocco will present a series of graphite drawings focusing on the moments of intensity when people act on their fearlessness. What propels these people to risk their lives to rescue another? The drawings gesture toward the transience of life through the delicacy of pencil on page.

Fortier is committed to a personal practice of yoga that has deepened her esteem for the human body and has significantly contributed to her art practice. Her work includes printmaking, drawing, neon, glass, and mixed-media sculpture. She is currently completing her NYS Certification in Art Education.

Hudson incorporates language in her ceramic sculptures and mixed-media installations, exposing the subtext of meaning and questioning the real function of the objects in our everyday lives.

Kaiser is an aspiring curator and gallerist and has both a background in art history and printmaking. As an artist, she draws inspiration from childhood memories, hard-core punk music, traditional tattoos, and the geographical locations with which she is familiar. Kaiser has been accepted into the master of science program in history of art & design at Pratt Institute, New York City.

Mastropierro’s current work challenges assumptions about ceramic tile, presenting ideas of space, repetition, image, color, and texture.

Pauszek’s hand-carved woodblock and screen prints explore the history and culture of Dunkirk, on the shores of Lake Erie, where he grew up, through cock-and-bull stories passed down from his father and grandfathers. This summer, Pauszek will be an intern on the printmaking product line at Gamblin Artist Colors, Portland, OR.

Peters, through a combination of academic research and sculptural investigation, is examining the relationship of late 18th century French women’s clothing and the female form as it relates to women today.

The major in interdisciplinary art leading to a bachelor of arts degree in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at AU combines studio work in the arts with studies in art history, art theory, and cultural criticism. The program draws faculty from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and from the School of Art and Design in the College of Ceramics.

Interdisciplinary art majors develop technical and conceptual skills in the visual arts through studio work, while also learning how philosophical and historical perspectives can deepen and enrich the process and purposes of art-making.

The bachelor of arts degree program is distinguished from the bachelor of fine arts degree program in the School of Art and Design by its broad grounding in the general education program of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences leading to the major course of study with a concentration in visual arts, art history/theory, or performing arts/design.

Recent graduates, nationally and internationally, have opened their own studios, are working in museums, galleries, and design firms, are teaching art in secondary schools, and have entered graduate programs in the areas of studio art, art therapy, scenography, curatorial practice, and fine art conservation.