By Anna Van Voorhis

The new Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center building is beautiful. The soaring ceilings, the ambient, natural light and cool slate floors are reminiscent of a cathedral. But its warm wood paneling and myriad of cozy seating options make it less austere than its religious forbearers. Gushing aside, the magnificent new space was buzzing last Friday with visitors at the opening of the Law Warschaw Gallery. The first exhibit to grace the gallery’s walls is the Art Faculty Exhibit, Reintroducing: 2012 Faculty Exhibition. The show features the work of seven Art Department faculty members. Pieces range in size and medium from delicate ceramic coils to black and expressive monoprints. A large, eerie pigment ink print by photography professor Justin Newhall bedecks the north wall. The photograph features a burnt-out airplane nestled among glacial erratics and pine trees (pictured opposite). Across from his work is a sculptural piece titled Lady with Nail Fileby 2D design professor Gudrun Lock. The figure of a woman filing her nails is created out of a sewn bed sheet filled with junk mail. Other sculptural pieces include ceramics professor Gary Erickson’s undulating ceramic spirals and sculpture professor Stanton Sears’ topographical representation of a river confluence. Opposite Sears’ work hang four impressive monoprints by printmaking professor Ruthann Godollei. Adjacent to Godollei’s work is a set of four dark and delicate drawings by drawing professor Megan Vossler. At the far end of the gallery hang two beautifully bleak paintings of Antarctic landscapes by painting professor Chris Willcox. A written catalog of the works on display is not as impressive nor as interesting as the works themselves. Visual art is meant to be viewed. And even if the exhibit does not seem like it will suit your fancy, the gallery space in and of itself is something worth viewing. The white, vaulted space is an unimaginable improvement over the temporary house-gallery of the last two years. And if you don’t yet feel inspired to go peek at the exhibit right now, here’s one more incentive: the show ends this weekend, so check it out before 4:00 p.m. on Sunday! refresh –>