Ruffin Gallery Exhibition - New Growth: Ten Years of ArtLab at Mountain Lake Biological Station

Each artist in New Growth is a past participant of the ArtLab residency, and each artwork reflects in its own way the type of exploration and research that the residency fosters. The artworks curated here communicate the profoundly positive impact of interdisciplinary interaction. Tapping into the principles of observation, they focus on the natural world and our relation to it, and call attention to the artist's central role as observer. This has the collective result of blurring the fictitious line between observer and the observed, and of highlighting the human ability to step out of and interpret the workings of our planet.

ABOUT ARTLAB @ MOUNTAIN LAKE BIOLOGICAL STATION

ArtLab was founded in 2013 by Megan Marlatt (Art) and Butch Brodie (Biology). The program's mission is to bring artists and scientists together to share philosophies and perspectives in their common quest to observe and understand the world around them. Art and science are both creative endeavors. Each year, ArtLab provides 6 professional artists and 6 UVA Studio Art majors with time, space, and inspiration to create. The residency attracts professional artists who have an affinity for the natural world and whose creativity explores the intersection of arts and science. During the ArtLab program, 60-80 scientists, artists, and students call Mountain Lake Biological Station home. The Station has a growing art collection including work from past resident artists, long-time Station resident Lucile Walton and John James Audubon.

CURATORS: Sarah Irvin and Tracy Stonestreet

ARTISTS: Nancy Blum, Sara Bouchard, Gregory Brellochs, Rob Carter, Zehra Khan, Meredith Leich, Chris Mahonski, Nathalie Miebach and Ash Eliza Williams

ON VIEW

October 21 - December 6, 2024

Gallery open Mondays-Fridays, 9am-5pm

Panel Discussion: November 8, 4-5pm

Opening reception: November 8, 5-7pm

ADDRESS

Ruffin Hall

179 Culbreth Road

Charlottesville, VA 22903

Parking in Culbreth Garage is free after 5pm

PRESS CONTACT

Elena Yu, Gallery & Visiting Artist Coordinator

University of Virginia Art Department

ruffin-gallery@virginia.edu

New Growth: Ten Years of ArtLab at Mountain Lake Biological Station is supported by an Arts Enhancement Grant from UVA Arts & the Office of the Provost & the Vice Provost for the Arts.

RUFFIN GALLERY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Since 2008, the Ruffin Gallery has been an active part of the Studio Art program. Each year the gallery hosts four to six exhibits that serve as one of the University's most important showcases for contemporary art and are an integral part of the Studio Art experience. Students are involved with the production of these exhibitions and gain valuable experience in the handling and hanging of exhibits. Every Spring, the gallery is the site of the Fourth-Year Thesis and Aunspaugh Fellows Exhibitions.