Art professor Jeffrey McGee tells his students that art is everywhere. From the clothes you wear, billboards you drive past, even on a paper cup. He encourages his students to think about what’s beyond art museums, and see what’s around them 24 hours a day.
“There is a minority of people who put in the effort to go see art, but our world is so visual now that art is everywhere,” said McGee.
One of the ways McGee gets his students to think creatively about art is to have them collaborate across artistic disciplines. He has had some of his art classes partner with the theatre and dance students on different projects not only to see how their respective art areas fuse together, but to see how the design process works from a variety of angles to accomplish the final product.
Currently president of the Houston Metal Arts Guild (HMAG), one of McGee’s most sought-after art classes at the College remains his Art Metals class, which teaches students the foundations of artistic metalsmithing. In 2012, McGee and former dance student, Bryan Peck, collaborated for a unique art exhibition at Rice University, and presented by HMAG, entitled “Collaborative Exchange, Le Merle Noir: Act 1.” Using his animation and sculpture backgrounds, McGee’s metalwork designs use historical inspiration from Hollywood films, animation, puppet-theater, medieval armor, jewelry, and fashion. He chose dance as a collaborative medium because of the familiar contrasts of stationary sculpture and constant movement of dance. Wearing the metalwork, Peck choreographed his own performance as an amalgamated creature transcending the traditional sense of sculpture.
“I wanted to create a narrative,” said McGee. “I feel that without a story, many people tend to glance over artwork, and I wanted something that people remembered. In the art world, folks tend to gravitate toward their own field of interest, but by breaking those boundaries, it may inspire someone else to collaborate with someone outside their concentration.”
In 2013, his sculpture students worked with the theatre students to develop a performance piece called “Purple.” The sculpture students created masks inspired by cultures and folktales from all over the world such as Japanese kabuki masks, African tribal masks, and U.S. Iroquois masks and art. The theatre students brought the masks to life through puppetry and other theatrical forms.
Last October, McGee lectured at the Parker Williams Public Library about career opportunities in art and his personal story of how he became an artist. Whenever possible, McGee tries to be the example for his students, showing them that a career in art is one that fosters lifelong learning. “Collaboration and problem solving are cornerstones to many realms of human society, and I want to promote these principles in my teaching and creative work.”
For more information about the San Jacinto College art and design program, visit sanjac.edu/career/art-design.
– Andrea Vasquez
