Graduate students find art in work of Physical Plant Division employees

April 3, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Students in the master’s of fine arts program at the University of Florida will present artwork made in collaboration with UF’s Physical Plant Division from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday.

The project titled “Let’s Get Physical” will be shown in the McCarty Storage Building, an enclosed courtyard not normally open to the public behind the Food Science & Human Nutrition Building.

As part of a digital media art graduate seminar in the School of Art and Art History, students completed a four-week residency with the PPD. Students worked with the building services, motor pool, facilities, grounds and systems departments. They created paintings, video pieces, sound pieces and performances that highlight and comment on the “who,” “where” and “what” of the PPD work.

Katerie Gladdys, assistant professor of digital media art, and Eric Cochran, associate director of physical plant operations, have worked together over the past couple of years to create opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to learn about and collaborate with PPD.

“There is an art to the work that the physical plant does that is akin to the work that our students do,” Gladdys said. “I felt that a collaboration between the students and the people who work at the physical plant would not only inform the art-making process of the students but also highlight the art in the work of the physical plant that often goes unrecognized.”

Cochran said the project also was valuable for the PPD.

“In focusing on the daily maintenance issues, it is really easy for us to forget that education support is really the business that we are in,” Cochran said. “We have a wealth of knowledge and altruistic people in a myriad of different occupations that really enjoy working with students and faculty; supporting this art project is just another opportunity for us to do so.”

The UF Office of Sustainability co-sponsored the event.

“We are sponsoring because PPD is such an important part of making sustainability happen at UF, and as the people behind the scenes they so rarely get credit,” said Anna Mary Prizzia, outreach coordinator for the sustainability office. “It is exciting to see a project that highlights all the hard work they do every day to keep our campus running and the commitment they have to making our university a more sustainable place.”

The students are Sheila Bishop, Michael Christopher, Hale Ekinci, Anna Kell, Patrick LeMieux and Dan Tankersley.