Cook completes art condition reports with (l-r) Saxon-Hill, Alon Karniel '01, and Rebecca ½uber '01.

The Gallery

Cook works with Saxon-Hill and Karniel

Many of the discussions focused on the installation of the gallery's winter show of Bay Area artist Raymond Saunders. Some students participated in the installation, from exhibition design to helping hang the show. According to Rebecca Guber '01, the workshop quickly developed into a collaboration between Cook and the students. "It soon became less of Silas telling us how to do it and more of a discussion of what was the best way to accomplish something." When completed, the seminar participants planned and hosted a hugely successful student opening to kick off the event. "We decided to make the opening reflect some of the playful elements of Saunder's work," explains Guber. "Silas helped us create a hopscotch board in the gallery, and we had jacks and marbles and cupcakes and other kid food. Students loved it. I think more students went into the gallery that night than had been in it the entire semester. And they stayed and had fun."

The workshop will culminate in many of the students installing their senior thesis art shows this month. Cook says the collaboration between the gallery and the students has been personally rewarding. "I hate to see good work that's degraded by a lack of knowledge or prepatory skills, and it is really exciting to see the light bulb go off in the students' heads— that 'aha, I can make a beautiful, inexpensive frame.' Any time you have a chance to work with students, it is enlightening. It's even more rewarding when it's at their request."

Paula Barclay is the editor of Reed.