Senior art major to exhibit in Cazenovia

12/03/2024

Chloe Loewenguth, a graduating Art and Art History Department senior at SUNY Cortland, is staging her own sculpture exhibition at the Stone Quarry Art Park in Cazenovia, N.Y., as she puts her best projects up for faculty evaluation on Friday, Dec. 6.

Loewenguth of Syracuse, N.Y., won a coveted Studio at Stone Quarry Art Park award to showcase her portfolio in what Art Park founder Dorothy Reister described as “Not an outdoor museum of sculpture placed statically in a landscape setting, but rather an ever-changing partnership between the artist and environment.”

The reception for Loewenguth’s thesis exhibition, titled “chloe loewenguth: shells” will take place that day from 4 to 7 p.m.

Loewenguth, who was chosen to display a piece of her work in the 2023 Best of SUNY Exhibition in Albany, will present her oral defense of her studio artwork at 5 p.m. The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.

SUNY Cortland’s graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts seniors traditionally have displayed their final collection of studio artworks, writing and oral presentations to enable them to fulfill the yearlong thesis requirement in their designated programs. The audience, along with BFA committee members from the Art and Art History Department, will have a chance to interact and direct questions to Loewenguth after her presentation.

“I explore the complexities of mental health and growth by translating abstract emotions into tangible forms,” Loewenguth said in her artist’s statement for the exhibition.

“Inspired by the idea that progress is a spiral, ‘Shells’ represents the layers we build to cope with life’s challenges. Each time we encounter these familiar struggles, we revolve and evolve, revealing evolution, not repetition — reminding us that although subtle and nonlinear, progress is still progress.”

Through materials like lead, wax, iron and paper, the artist explores themes of weight, fragility, persistence and transformation. These materials, coupled with the human form, allow her to embody the shared experience of learning to navigate struggle and the endurance required to grow.

“By externalizing these feelings into form, my work invites viewers to reflect on their spirals and the strength that can be found in vulnerability.”

Loewenguth enrolled at SUNY Cortland to pursue a degree in inclusive education and to play on the varsity lacrosse team.

“I have always loved art, taking classes throughout high school and even minoring in it while still in the education program here,” she said.

“It wasn’t until I had decided to leave the school’s lacrosse team and study abroad in Florence, Italy, the center of Renaissance art, that I realized that I wanted to pursue art seriously and apply for the BFA program.”

During her time at SUNY Cortland, Loewenguth’s art has been shown in the annual 2023 and 2024 Student Select Art exhibitions, where her work earned her first place this past spring.

This past year, Loewenguth also was awarded the Gerald N. DiGiusto Award for Excellence in Studio Art, as well as an Undergraduate Research Grant in which she spent the summer building an artistic iron-casting furnace that runs from recycled vegetable oil.

She served as treasurer of the student organized Art Exhibition Association.

Loewenguth’s Stone Quarry Art Park exhibition will continue to be on display from Dec. 6 to Sunday, Dec. 22.

The show will be open to view on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or by appointment through Dec. 22.

The park is open to the public every day of the year, from dawn to dusk. A private, not-for-profit contemporary outdoor art space founded in 1991, the 104-acre park features an approximate four miles of earthen, gravel and mowed grass trails maintained by the North Country Trail Association as part of its Link Trail. Visit the Art Park website for information and a map.

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