Art Club hosting reknowned speaker

By Sophia Potter
Editor in Chief

The LCC Art Club is hosting its first speaker of the semester, and all art and design students are welcome to attend.

Ben Duke – painter, muralist and MSU associate professor – will be speaking Monday, Sept. 27 from 4 to 6 p.m. in Gannon Building room 1235B. There will also be an informal Q and A session.

“I have invited Ben to talk about his work as a figurative painter, muralist and to share about the art program at MSU,” said Susan McGinnis Hardie, the LCC Art Club adviser.

With so many topics to be covered, Duke will likely have something to say that can help students along their paths to success

For those who have spent any time in East Lansing, there is a good chance they have already seen a piece of artwork in which Duke had a heavy hand. Students in his “Public Art: Understanding and Practice” class at MSU have painted two murals: one on campus at the Kresge Art Center and one on Grove Street.

He is also one of the lead artists in the “Life is a Groovy Opportunity” mural that can be found below the Division Street Garage in East Lansing.

Duke first studied literature, philosophy and art, and received a BFA in 2002 from The University of Utah. He then gained an MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore Hoffberger School of Painting in 2006 and has completed two residencies in Taiwan from 2009 to 2010.

Philosophy and literature are both core to Duke’s work still. According to his artist statement, painting is a way to explore the world around him by observing the worlds he creates on the canvas.

“Am I in the world or is the world in me?” Duke stated. “I allude to my life, to writers’ works, to imagery, and it is my hope that this record of allusion conjures and creates the same.

“I am referring to text, theory, idea, but I am also finding myself already there, looking out to see in.”

Curious to hear more, or even get a few questions answered? Stop by Gannon 1235B on Monday to be part of this exciting discussion.