Rankin Hall on the southwest edge of Saint Peter’s Jersey City campus was abuzz November 20 with faculty, staff and students who came to admire the talents cultivated by Saint Peter’s Fine Arts Department.
The sounds of Chopin’s Fantasie-Impromptu, Op. 66 performed by student Jonathan Herrmann permeated Rankin Hall and compelled occupants to follow the lilting sounds to the second floor Music Room, where Professor James Adler directed his students in the department’s semi-annual concert.
The Vocal Arts Ensemble adapted 16th century canons, Alleluia (from Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165) by Mozart, as well as seasonal favorites. Dan Shea and Matt Vieira performed their original composition, My Legend/My Prayer, with Dan Shea and Veronica Graveline as vocalists, and Matt Vieira as pianist.
A comedic interlude was delivered by Dominic Furina and Dan Shea with their duet of (You’re) Timeless to Me from Hairspray. Performing Arts Coordinator Kevin Cummines accompanied them on piano.
In addition to the concert, an art exhibition highlighted the work created this semester by students studying Introduction to Computer Art, Tools of Graphic Art, Computer Painter, Drawing Workshop, Photography I and II, Graphic Design, and Art and Desktop Publishing. The artists answered questions and accepted well-deserved compliments as visitors viewed the drawings, paintings, graphic designs and photographic creations that filled the display cases that line the second floor of the art center.
The Fine Arts Department offers four distinctive majors — Art History, Visual Arts, Fine Arts, and Graphic Arts — from which students may choose. Furthermore, every student, regardless of major, must take a course in the fine arts. The Chair of the Fine Arts Department, Jon Boshart, believes knowledge of the field is necessary because, “Some artistic creativity and appreciation of the arts is important at all educational levels or, at the very least, an awareness of significant artistic expressions is necessary for true education of the human person.
“Our students in the Fine Arts Department,” Boshart continued, “express these truths through their varied artistic talents. They bear witness to the success of the Saint Peter’s College educational program.”