Tuscaloosa. — Graduate student in printmaking Checa Baldarelli will present her master of fine arts thesis exhibition, Leftovers, at the Sella-Granata Art Gallery on UA campus, March 19-29, 2018. A reception for the artist will be held Thursday, March 22, 4-6 pm.
Baldarelli finds delight and potential in the wide variety of found objects and materials she collects and works with, including paper, plastic, textiles, wood and metal. She writes, “As a kid I watched my father build houses, sew Halloween costumes, and find purpose for discarded items. Helping me construct projects for school out of cardboard and salvaged wood, I realized you could transform objects and materials to give them new life. Repurposing has, naturally, led me to become a collector. Collections come in all shapes and sizes; they know no limits. I tend to collect things I see potential in, items that will be useful to me, as well as objects that make me giggle and question why on earth did someone have this to begin with! I love these magical moments of discovery and want to share them through my work.”
Working with these found items makes her wonder about their “past” and how they change as they intersect with her reality. Baldarelli writes, “Objects, much like people, have histories. They are formed and as time passes they evolve. A crack here, a bend there – slowly they become different. By combining gathered and collected materials, I translate my memories of people, places and experiences into mixed media sculptures. Inspired by the age of DIY craft and repurposing, my work combines, rearranges and transforms salvaged materials, giving them a new purpose.”
Francesca Baldarelli is a graduate student in printmaking with an assistantship. She has taught Introduction to Printmaking and 2D Design. She has assisted in Color Theory, Drawing II and Intro to Printmaking. Baldarelli received the BFA, cum laude, in painting and printmaking from Youngstown State University in 2012. She attended the Chautauqua Institution School of Art in Chautauqua, NY, in 2014 and the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice in 2010. She received a UA College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Council Fellowship in 2015, the CISA Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institute Scholarship in 2014. At YSU, Baldarelli received a four-year American Legion Auxiliary Scholarship, a Study Abroad Grant, Venice, Italy, in 2010 and the Student Art Association Painting Award in 2009.
Baldarelli presented her MA thesis exhibition in February 2017 at the Sella-Granata Art Gallery on UA campus. Her work combining printmaking and ceramics was in the group invitational exhibition, Clay Review 3, at the Abernathy Arts Center in Sandy Springs, GA, in 2017. She also participated in the UA Graduate Student Exhibition in the Sella-Granata Art Gallery and in Hopelessly Hopeful at Gray Gallery in Philadelphia. Baldarelli has exhibited her work in the Chautauqua Institution Student Exhibition at the Fowler Kellogg Gallery, Chautauqua, NY. Her Graduating BFA Show was held at the John J. McDonough Museum, Youngstown, OH. She has been included in several group exhibitions at Bliss Hall Gallery at Youngstown State University, including Streets of Venice, Prodotto di Venezia and Gypsy Town, a collaborative installation with Teresa Soos.
Her art website is http://fmbaldarelli9.wixsite.com/portfolio.
This exhibition is in partial fulfillment of the Master of Fine Arts degree in the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Alabama. For more information on the graduate programs of the UA department of art and art history, visit this link: https://art.ua.edu/academics/graduate-programs/art-requirements/. The Sella-Granata Art Gallery is open Mon. through Thurs., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in 109 Woods Hall, in the heart of UA campus.
Woods Quad and Woods Hall is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/.