Platform2

Visit artists in their studios and buy original artwork at Platform2, an annual visual arts event benefiting student scholarships, set for Saturday, Oct. 15, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s 2300 Studios.

Art Studio faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Art and Art History will open their studios for exhibitions featuring student and alumni artists, hands-on demonstrations and a silent auction. UAB students will give ceramic wheel-throwing and wood pen-turning demonstrations, and shortly after nightfall works by New Media and Animation students will be projected on the exterior of the building. Food and complimentary refreshments courtesy of Cahaba Brewing Co. will be available.

The event will take place from 5-8 p.m. at 2300 Seventh Ave. South. Platform2 is free and open to the public. Free parking will be available in designated nearby lots. 

In addition to UAB faculty works, art by alumni and local Birmingham artists will be for sale alongside art by recent UAB DAAH visiting artists Willie Cole, Amanda Browder, George Ferrandi and Paul Rusconi. All of the artwork sales will fund student scholarships. A preview of works featured at Platform2 can be found by following @uabdaah on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For more information, contact outreach coordinator Jared Ragland at raglandj@uab.edu.

Support for Platform2 comes from Cahaba Brewing Co., Forstall Art Supply and the Friends of the Department of Art and Art History.

“With the help of the Friends of the Department of Art and Art History, UAB students have benefited from a dynamic visiting artists and scholars program, increased scholarships, and a variety of service and community engagement initiatives,” said Chair Lauren Lake, MFA. “The annual Platform event is designed as an open house to highlight our student, faculty and alumni work, engage our community, build support for our Friends campaign, and raise support for student scholarships.”

Those who become members of the Friends of the Department of Art and Art History during or after Platform2 will receive a limited edition linen textile work that combines traditional Japanese indigo kumo boshi shibori pattern dyeing techniques with contemporary screen printing methods, made in collaboration by Assistant Professor Doug Baulos, MFA, and Associate Professor Doug Barrett, MFA.

“The textile piece will feature a silkscreen pattern of Cahaba lilies that are bracketed by the big dipper and little dipper,” Barrett said. “The piece itself, printed in blue, becomes a representation of the Cahaba River. ‘Cahaba’ means ‘water from above’ in the native language of the area, and the little and big dippers will reference the idea of stars and the heavens – a ‘stars fell on Alabama’ type of thing.” 

To become a member of the Friends of the Department of Art and Art History, visit www.uab.edu/cas/art/give/friends.