The School of Art surprised students with work from renowned artists during its faculty art exhibit: “Legacy and Prospect: Faculty Work in Context 1913-1963”, which is located of the main gallery in the Art Building and runs until Oct. 17.

The exhibit features art pieces from former professors of Kent State, as well as pieces from world-renowned artists such as Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso.

“I was shocked,” senior political science major Ethan Tanney said. “My friend brought me down here. I had no idea Kent had these kinds of pieces.”

The ongoing exhibit combines faculty work from former professors such as Elmer Novotny and Marlene Mancini Frost.

“I knew it was going to have pieces from old professors,” senior visual communication design major Rachel Volcheck said. “That’s why I came. But seeing the art that was popular when they were working really does give context. It’s cool to think my work might hang up there one day.”

The School of Art is the only school in the Northeast Ohio region to offer a master’s degree in fine arts. It also has one of the largest fine arts programs in the state.

“People don’t realize how big our art program here is,” Nick Brown,a senior fine arts major, said. “They think about the fashion school and our architecture school. No one realizes we have a pretty impressive art school, too.”

The exhibit features art from the early to mid-20th century. The School of Art, founded in 1910, was still young when much of the artwork showcased in “Legacy and Prospect” was created.

“It’s cool to see a Warhol at Kent State,” Brown said. “But it’s more important to look at the exhibit as a whole, to see that our professors and these big name artists are peers.”

The exhibit opened Sept. 18 and is the School of Art’s first major gallery showing of the semester.

“The exhibit is impressive, (but) not in that it showcases these famous people,” Brown said. “It’s impressive in that you can look at people’s work from your own school and see that it’s just as good as the more well-known pieces.”

The exhibit, according to the school, is meant to set the stage for the new Center of the Arts, which breaks ground Oct. 9. 

Contact Brittany Rees at [email protected].