Another Roadside Attraction
Everything is big in Texas, and that includes Rice student art. This past summer, original work by five Rice students was displayed in heroic scale on a series of billboards in and around College Station.
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Though there is a long tradition of artists making dramatic visual statements in space usually reserved for advertising, it is rare for such an opportunity to be made available to students, said international artist and Rice professor Christopher Sperandio.
“The range of artwork that Rice University students are making is impressive, and my selections reflect that range. This billboard project was a unique opportunity for the artists to stretch their subject matter and styles for a venue that audiences experience in motion.”
—Meredith Goldsmith
Lamar Outdoor Advertising donated the five 11-by-23 billboards when Sperandio approached the company with the idea. He then secured Meredith Goldsmith, curatorial associate at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, to jury and select pieces for the student billboard project.
“The range of artwork that Rice University students are making is impressive, and my selections reflect that range,” Goldsmith said. “This billboard project was a unique opportunity for the artists to stretch their subject matter and styles for a venue that audiences experience in motion. I am sure the students’ images will delight and challenge their unsuspecting audience of drivers, as banal familiar landmarks are transformed into works of art.”
The student billboard project exemplifies the reinvigoration of Rice’s Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts.
“The billboards are just part of the changes,” Sperandio said, noting that the faculty has revised the studio program curriculum. “You can expect some exciting artworks to flow out of our program. Visual Art 2.0 is here — a critically minded, student-focused, boutique arts program perfect for artist–scholars who want to take advantage of the interdisciplinary nature of Rice and work in an expanded cultural field.”