Graduate student Erin Tyler was invited to give a workshop at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in conjunction with the museum’s fall exhibition “Sarah Crowner: Around Orange.”

The education workshop on notebook making was held October 2023. The Pulitzer Arts Foundation is located in St. Louis, Missouri.

Sarah Crowner is a nationally recognized visual artist who makes paintings, ceramics, sculptures, installations and theatre sets, some of which were on display in the exhibit.

Channeling Crowner’s style

Tyler, who is pursuing an MFA in visual studies in the Department of Art and Design, led workshop participants in cutting and binding hand-painted paper into original and interactive notebooks.

The notebooks mimicked the organic forms and hard edges present in Crowner’s paintings, which were featured in the exhibition.

Tyler hand-painted the papers in the notebooks to channel and reflect Crowner’s work.

“This process was particularly important and meaningful to me because I feel a deep connection to Sarah Crowner’s practice and wanted to honor that connection by responding to her work using my own visual language,” Tyler said.

“Crowner herself often responds directly to artists she admires, noting that she ‘channels’ them through her practice,” she added.

“Beautiful Chain of Connection”

Through what Tyler described as a “beautiful chain of connection with other artists,” she was asked to lead a workshop at the Foundation.

Tyler explained that Vaughn Davis, Jr., a St. Louis artist and currently the public engagement producer at Foundation, saw her work at Monaco Gallery as part of the Shœings exhibit.

“Vaughn recognized similarities between my work and the work of Sarah Crowner and decided I might be a nice fit to lead a workshop,” Tyler said.

The Shœings exhibit was curated by Kalaija Mallery, executive and artistic director at The Luminary. Tyler was acquainted with Mallery through mutual friends Alyssa Knowling and Springfield artist Sarah Stracke.

The importance of the artistic community and its networking opportunities is not lost on Tyler.

“I have trust that this experience, like those before this, will continue the chain of connection and experiences,” she said.

“I often hear the phrase ‘work brings more work,’ which I have come to believe wholeheartedly. With that belief, I look forward to what is to come!”

Learn more about the MFA in visual studies

Photos provided by Erin Tyler.

News submitted by Mariah Hunter and edited by the Reynolds College Communications team.

Hunter is a graduate assistant for the Department of Art and Design. She is working towards her master’s degree in writing at Missouri State University.