Synesthetic Slowdow (Open Experimental Studio)

Thursday, June 6, 6–8 p.m. Synesthetic Slowdown

Join both our resident artists in a meditative exploration of synesthesia as they disintegrate forms and integrate sound with color, clay, and words. Free for all. This program is geared toward those 18+.

Sculpt, draw, and paint in our open studio and co-create a community mural and sculpture with our resident artists Tuesday–Sunday from May 25–June 14.

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About the Open Experiemental Studio + More Events

LSU College of Art & Design will host two resident artists from late May to mid June 2024 in the LSU Glassell Gallery, located downtown in the Shaw Center for the Arts. LSU School of Art ceramic artist Richard Boehnke and painter, photographer, and musician Kimberly Meadowlark will set up open studios in the gallery kicking off their residency May 25th. Both artists will spend three days a week in Glassell Gallery making their own work and inviting visitors to make with them over the next month.

The Open Experimental Studio seeks not only to activate the gallery but to activate creative expression. It offers visitors the opportunity to experiment with artmaking, community building, and contributing their work to the experimental space. The Open Experimental Studio values process over product, experience over outcome, and communing over consuming. It seeks to create a supportive, open space for playful expression through artmaking that is open and welcoming to all.

In addition to the artists’ studios, the gallery will offer open studio space for visitors to create, scheduled workshops, and three community-created projects that will be facilitated by the artists over their month-long residency. The individual and joint workshops will include music, sound, and writing alongside painting, sculpting, and drawing. All Open Experimental Studio hours, workshops, and events are free and open to all.

May 25, 2–5 p.m. Open Experimental Studio Kick Off

Paint, sculpt, and draw with our resident artists Painter Kim Meadowlark and ceramic

artist Richard Boehnke as we kick off our four-week open experimental studio

residencies. Free and open to all.

Saturday, June 1, 1–2:30 p.m. - Handbuild a Cup with Richard Boehnke

Learn how to handbuild a cup with clay resident artist Richard from 1-2:30 or just drop by anytime from 12-5 to play and build with clay. Help us create our community clay

sculpture. Free and open to all

Sunday, June 2, 12–5 p.m. Free First Sunday: Handbuilding and Painting Sessions

12–1 p.m.- Open Studio Play: sculpt, paint, and draw with us!

1–2 p.m. - Handbuild a Tray with Richard Boehnke

2–3 p.m. - Open Studio Play: sculpt, paint, and draw with us!

3–4 p.m. - Painting Session with Kim Meadowlark

4–5 p.m.- Open Studio Play: sculpt, paint, and draw with us!

Free and open to all!

Sunday, June 9, 2–4 p.m. Painting with Kim Meadowlark

Experiment with Kim’s integration of expressive writing and painting on your own canvas from 2–4 p.m.

Friday, June 14, 6–8 p.m.- Closing Reception

Celebrate the end of our open studio and check out the community sculpture and mural

you created alongside friends, family, and our resident artists. Free and open to all.

Meadowlark is a Baton Rouge-based artist centering her work around a neurological experience, synesthesia—involuntary perceptions that cross over between senses. This has led to her combining her musical abilities and love of sound to create a tangible art form. Meadowlark primarily works with acrylic on canvas; however, she includes strikes of multiple mediums through each piece. For the better part of a decade, Meadowlark’s work has been recognized for its fluidity, vivid tones, and emotive characteristics. Her recent body of work embraces the techniques learned over a ten-year period, with a redefined elusiveness of geometric blocking. While not a student of formal training within university or further education sectors, her keen eye and passion for detail have allowed Meadowlark to create a name within the Baton Rouge community and beyond.

Using the plasticity of clay, Boehnke plays with line and gesture to make pieces that imply attitude and movement. He aims to create work that invites the viewer to imagine the pieces motion, drawing inspiration from how he sees people moving through the world. He has a deep interest in the interplay between craft, play, and value–challenging how an audience can engage with the work, sometimes inviting its destruction. Boehnke is an MFA candidate at Louisiana State University and business professional living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has worked in the United States, Vietnam, India, and the Netherlands, working across science and engineering, and he strives to connect that experience to his ceramic work and teaching philosophy.