It’s right there in the name: InterDisciplinary Experimental Arts. IDEA Space is an art gallery, sure, but it bursts out of that box to deliver enlightenment and inspiration wrapped in texture, color, shape, and line.
Jessica Hunter-Larsen ’90
Jessica Hunter-Larsen ’90 has been the curator since 2006, when she was handed a tabula rasa for the resource in the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center.
Hunter-Larsen sees visual art as a portal to learn about history, language, religion, sociology, psychology, performing arts, and science. It’s the perfect job for the art history major, who as a 16-year-old realized that she could study everything by studying the art of a culture or of a person.
“It seemed very natural and really exciting to move into this position. I could be very collaborative, not only with the Art Department here, who are wonderful partners, but with everybody.”
Most of the fun happens during IDEA Cabarets, when the campus population and the public are welcome to interact with experts.
This summer, IDEA Space hosted “Mandala of Enlightenment: The Dhyani Buddhas and Tara: Goddess of Liberation,” Joan Bredin-Price’s feminist interpretations of traditional iconography. Visitors could learn from David Gardiner, associate professor of religion at CC and friend of Bredin-Price; yoga instructor Kat Tudor ’77; Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader Za Choeje Rinpoche; and Judith Simmer-Brown of Naropa University.
Last spring, the gallery hosted “Rhythm Nations: Transnational Hip Hop in the Street, in the Gallery, and on the Stage,” with work by Ruben Aguirre, iROZEALb, Jacque Fragua, and Kelly Monico. Hunter-Larsen, abetted by Idris Goodwin of the CC Theatre and Dance Department, hosted speakers including CC’s Joan Ericson, professor of Japanese, and Heidi Lewis, assistant professor of feminist and gender studies; and Aya Louisa McDonald, associate professor of art history at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
The next exhibit will pay homage to Nikola Tesla, who conducted experiments in Colorado Springs from 1899 to 1900. The exhibit runs Sept. 4-Oct. 18 and will feature historical information, photographic reproductions, excerpts from Tesla’s notebooks, and art influenced by his ideas.
W. Bernard Carlson, who recently wrote a biography, “Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age,” will be among the speakers.
“We’re going to have a conversation about ‘What is it that made him so innovative? How was he conceiving of problem-solving that was so completely different from some of his contemporaries? How was he taking ideas from the past and applying them?’” Hunter-Larsen said.
She’s partnering with the Innovation Institute to explore topics including the gap between idea and implementation. Tesla, who died penniless, is practically the poster child for just how challenging it can be to bridge that gap.
Hunter-Larsen also has tapped the alumni pool, with past participants including artist Jon Cohrs ’00, Robin Reisenfeld ’78 of Christie’s Education New York, and Lydia Matthews ’81 of Parsons The New School for Design.
She admitted that not every idea works as planned.
“I take the word ‘experimental’ in the title very seriously. That gives me a lot of freedom to fail,” she said, laughing. “We’re all part of the experiment, so if something doesn’t work, we can sort of step back and say, ‘Well, that was interesting. What can we learn from that?’”
Her inspiration can come from something as simple as hearing a song called “Raw Sugar” on the radio. The result: the “Sugar, Sugar” exhibit of 2009-2010, with talks about the sugar industry and a beet farmer’s experiences, poetry, even a sugarplum tasting. Or she’ll hear about CC-based research and think of ways to engage people who may be too intimidated to enter a gallery.
“One of the great philosophies on campus, and here, is that anybody can bring something to the table. You don’t need to know anything about art to come to an art exhibition and have an experience.” She likens that experience to a really great dinner conversation — so pull up a chair and dig in.
More information: sites.coloradocollege.edu/ideaspace or (719) 389-6066.
