Tomorrow"s talent

Dean Johnson Gallery, comprising the main floor of Dean Johnson Design on Massachusetts Avenue, provides a service to art schools and the community by occasionally showcasing the work of art departments and schools in area colleges. Currently on view, the Indiana Wesleyan University Student-Faculty Show offers a glimpse of new talent - students who, presumably, aspire to forge careers in the visual arts, commercially or otherwise. Certainly, Dean Johnson has a vested interest in nurturing the designers of tomorrow: Many of them will undoubtedly come from regional institutions.

From competent photography to fine brushwork, students at Indiana Wesleyan appear to take themselves fairly seriously. One has to wonder, though, how many of them will pursue careers in art post-graduation? What does the future hold by way of opportunity for young artists? The reality is that most art students do not pursue art full-time. This, of course, does not render the degree meaningless - we could all stand to spend some time expressing ourselves creatively with the guidance of a good instructor or two.

Peering around the gallery, one gets a sense, or rather a confirmation, that what is on the minds of our students now is perhaps much the same as what was on the minds of students in previous generations. I noted some tortured faces as subject matter; moody photographs of young women; some architectural

photographs taken from unique vantage points; and some familiar abstract sculpture. Among the exhibiting professors, the work appeared to be less about self and more about the chosen medium. Conspicuously absent was any sort of edgy experimentation on the part of either students or teachers.

We all must start somewhere. I"ll leave it up to the folks at Dean Johnson, the employers of tomorrow, to decide whether or not there"s somewhere to go.