This year, Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts (CFA) celebrates its 100 years of existence. To mark this momentous occasion, numerous commemorative activities were planned for the 2005-2006 academic year. Among the main events is 100% Centennial, an alumni art exhibition on display in the Purnell Center's Regina Gouger Miller Gallery. The exhibit, which is the product of a partnership with curators of The Carnegie Museum of Art and The Andy Warhol Museum, includes a diverse array of physical works of art, digital images, video clips, and more.

The overall exhibit speaks with various mediums, commenting on religious and social issues, the mother and child connection, travel, and perhaps a touch of globalization with both weariness towards it and celebration of it. It also speaks to the various vocations of CFA graduates and shows the different ways an "artist" can earn a living in this creative, diverse world.

Floor 1's theme, "Representing CFA," has two elements. First is a computer with a searchable DVD that contains, among other things, a sampling of alumni projects too big to contain within the gallery. Included are items such as drama alumnus Ray Recht's set designs for Broadway plays he has worked on. This art-on-demand display would fit nicely into a press kit for CFA, but it seems a bit incongruous in a gallery setting. Second, this floor of the exhibit features a projection of time-based and digitally-documented pieces by alumni. The work projected is also found on the searchable DVD.

The second floor of the gallery, "Wall-to-Wall CFA," is a salon-style installation of over 200 works of art. The themes and mediums of the art displayed vary greatly. There are paintings, sketches, photographs, multimedia presentations, and three-dimensional pieces that range in tools from the commonly used pen-and-ink to an original fiber sculpture and a Necco wafer mosaic of Andrew Carnegie that adorns the floor of the gallery.

One of the more stunning pen-and-ink pieces, "Simple and Complex" by Ramsey (Art 1967), could be described as a poignant depiction of the effect of urbanization. A native woman is seen from the shoulders up. In one eye we see the reflection of a mountain range and in the other, a city with a stereotypical skyline blocks the view of the mountains. On the other end of the "tools of the craft" spectrum, Wilma Trimble (Art 1951) presents the 100% Centennial collection with a cloth and thread "painting" that resembles the galaxy pulled into the dimensions of a quilt with the piece "The Heavens Declare the Glory."

The piece "Modern Life Stories" by Colette Galter (Design 1976) includes photographs overlaid with written messages that tell the story of each photograph. These messages narrate the history of the artist's family and attach the photographs to public etiquette as laid out in Emily Post's Etiquette. For example, a lady of state wearing gloves is shaking the hand of the artist's mother in one photograph. Below the photograph is Post's dictate that a lady must never remove her gloves to shake hands.

A few of the pieces on display are multi-sensory in nature. "The Wonders of Angkor Wat" by Jim Julien (Art 1975) includes a sound file via MP3, while the eight "Excerpts" by Ruth S. White (Music 1948-49) are the compact disk recordings of a student now in the musical field. "Work in Progress" by William Earl Kofmehl, III, a.k.a. Lobster Boy (Art 2002), includes a video of his exploits as the infamous Lobster Boy. During his senior year at Carnegie Mellon, Kofmehl gained notoriety around the globe for his senior art project, which involved constructing a three-story house in the shadow of Doherty Hall, wearing a lobster costume, and maintaining complete silence. According to an interview he gave at the time, he hoped to "explore the effect of his daytime silence on his nighttime utterances" (Carnegie Mellon Magazine).

Paul Zelevansky (Art 1967)'s "The Great Blankness" is digital animation multimedia art, with one segment of American Idol progressing into a series of things treasured in the United States, like mom, cars, and a remote control. The segment ends with a crash and "pop culture" dying in the form of Felix the Cat upwardly exiting the screen with the help of angelic wings.

To show the diversity of CFA graduates' vocational pursuits, there are on display Davy Crockett's uniform from the 2003 movie Alamo designed by Daniel Orlandl (Drama 1976), an Oscar De la Renta perfume package designed by Susan Gronich (Art 1963), and sunglasses designed for Ray Ban and Teva by Mark Flanagan (Design 1985).

The third and final floor, "Collecting CFA," is a rather sparse, traditional gallery setup. It's rather underwhelming after the sensory overload of the second floor display. However, the works make up for their scarcity by boldly claiming their status as works by "prominent alumni." The collection, borrowed from various museums and private collections, includes the work of Dara Birnbaum, William Charles Libby, Philip Pearlstein, Katie Grinnan, and Andy Warhol, to name a few.

The variety 100% Centennial presents represents the full range of artistic pursuits and styles of CFA alumni. The multi-sensory exhibit could make anyone a fan of art. It's sure to draw you in.

The exhibit will run from until March 5, 2006 at the Purnell Center for the Arts' Regina Gouger Miller Gallery. The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30 – 5:00 p.m. For more information on the gallery or directions, visit the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery homepage. For more information about the CFA Centennial celebration, visit the Centennial homepage.

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