UMaine Engineering Students Unleash Creativity through Art
Contact: Edwin Nagy, 581-2981; George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — Never let it be said engineering students are all about just mathematics, mechanics and structural theory.
The University of Maine Engineering Art Club, unveiling its third annual “Art by Engineers” competitive art exhibit Feb. 5, is offering a glimpse of just how creative engineers can be. The show at UMaine’s Engineering and Science Building at Barrows Hall will feature artwork of all types by students, faculty and others from the science and engineering world on campus.
In the first two years, students and engineering faculty have exhibited works ranging from a cardboard chair, concrete piano and precision-machined aluminum mazes to paintings, photography and computer-designed images. The annual exhibit was established to give students a chance to exercise their creative sides and demonstrate to the public that engineering and art can and do coexist, says exhibit co-founder Edwin Nagy, a Ph.D. candidate and design instructor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.
“Engineering is a creative profession — every day brings new problems to the designer’s desk, the solutions of which must often be original creations,” Nagy says. “Students in engineering and the sciences need to be rewarded for their creative abilities, not just their skills at crunching numbers through formulae.”
The artwork will be exhibited Feb. 5 through March 2. An opening reception and awards ceremony, with refreshments provided by the College of Engineering, is planned from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Feb. 15. Show sponsors will award prizes for student art in categories that include Best Environmentally Inspired Art (sponsored by Woodard and Curran Engineering) and Best Transportation Inspired Art (care of Gorrill-Palmer Engineering).
Nagy expects the show will consist of between 50 and 60 pieces of art submitted by about 25 students.