Learning Commons art
“Flight Into Egypt” by Sadao Watanabe (woodcut, 1973)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Lower level
“Gathering In” by Margo Vanderhill (oil pastel, 2008)
Second floor
“Fly America” by David Driesbach (intaglio, 1976)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Lower level, Children's Literature Collection
“Coming Plum” by Rein Vanderhill (acrylic on canvas, 2012)
First floor
Artist statement: For more than 40 years, I have used natural subjects to create dramatic and high contrast compositions that are accessible to a wide range of people regardless of their artistic experience or knowledge. The bright spring sunlight casts a filigree of shadows, creating a very active pattern that seemed to me to be telling of all the biological action happening at that time of year. The end result of all this fleeting activity is the fruit that will form from these blossoms throughout the summer. In this case, the plum blossoms become plums, even as they are very becoming just as blossoms.
“Albert’s Dog” by David Driesbach (engraving, 1973)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Lower level, Children's Literature Collection
“Hopeful Horizons” by Judy Thompson (watercolor and wax resist, 2011)
Second floor
“Heads Up” by Judy Thompson (watercolor, 2012)
Second floor
“Keep Looking Up” by Phil Scorza (image transfer, graphite, house paint and china marker, 2012)
Donated by the artist
First floor
Artist statement: I like to use easily recognizable images—like trees—in my work. The familiarity draws the viewer in closer, and, once closer, one notices the familiar is juxtaposed with something unexpected. It’s my way of making sure the viewer is comfortable with something they are seeing for the first time, something that does not always happen in art. It’s the illusion of having previously experienced something, even though you are encountering it for the first time. When I experience this myself, it is uncomfortably familiar.
“I Dropped My Watch Down There” by David Driesbach (intaglio, 1974)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Lower level, Children's Literature Collection
“Illuminated Rain” by Margo Vanderhill (oil pastel, 2007)
Second floor
“Landscape in 4” by Dennis Dykema (acrylic paint, 1990)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
First floor
“Leaf in Black and White” by Tom Becker (photography, 2010)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
First floor, Peer Learning Center
“Last Supper” by Sadao Watanabe (woodcut, 1995)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Lower level
“Les des sont jetes” by Jenneret Charles Le Corbusier (lithography, 1959)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Lower level
“Noah’s Ark” by Sadao Watanabe (woodcut, 1989)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Lower level
“Plages” by Barbara Kwasniewska (etching)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Lower level
“Place of Mind” by Margo Vanderhill (oil pastel, 2007)
Second floor
“Promise of Rain” by Margo Vanderhill (oil pastel, 2012)
Second floor
Artist statement: In my work, I try to engage viewers in enjoying the familiar while exploring the unknown. In this painting, twilight and darkness transform an everyday setting into a scene of mystery and intrigue. The colors and shapes change and alter the mood.
“Red Park” by Daniel Lang (lithograph, 1970)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
First floor
“Seattle Street Art” by Doug Burg (photography, 2003)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
First floor, Peer Learning Center
“Sunrise in Solitude” by Joel Scholten (encaustic, tar, graphite fibers, mixed media, 2013)
Second floor
Artist statement: As a classically trained oil painter, I made the move to encaustic painting only a few years ago. There is magic behind encaustics and the need to work with the material. It will not be manipulated. That single trait brought back the joy that had been missing in the process of creating a work of art. I find inspiration in the murky texture and quality of art, especially as it references urban landscapes. I enjoy contrasting flat line drawings with the natural atmospheric perspective that encaustic wax creates. I obsess over the rhythm of letters and numbers as they create paragraphs. I find satisfaction when I can sink those inspirations deep into the waxy layers of a painting.
“Sky Show” by Jake Van Wyk (color lithograph, 1993)
First floor
“You Are Here” by Veronica Postma and Paul Stewart (16-gauge mild steel, 2013)
Second floor
Artist statement: This work represents a common thread everyone in the Learning Commons has: their current location. It unites them, and although everyone is here for different reasons and with different goals, we hope they are encouraged to take advantage of their current location and situation—not so narrowly as to experience just the physical building they are in, but broadly, to appreciate the entire learning community and opportunities they are part of.
“Well Protected” by John Bowitz and Shannon Sargent (mixed media, 2007)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Second floor
“Zeitgeist” by John Bowitz and Shannon Sargent (mixed media, 2007)
Northwestern College fine arts collection
Second floor
“The Storehouse” by John Vander Stelt (oil, 2013)
Donated in part by the artist
First floor
Artist statement: As a storehouse for grain, a corn crib represents the new Learning Commons, which is a storehouse for information and knowledge. It also represents students and Christians who are storehouses for wisdom and truth. As Christians, we believe all truth is from God, and you’ll notice there is only one way into this building from this viewpoint: the window above. We are to look up, to God alone, for guidance as we fill our storehouse. The grasses are blowing to the right and the clouds are moving rightward. This represents the things of this world pushing us in a worldly direction. Even the corn crib itself is not centered on the canvas but has been pushed to the right. The shadow of the cupola (cast by God as the light) points us back toward a life centered on Christ.
