A number of art exhibits are going up around University Park as the new semester gets under way.
-- "Before the Scalloped Vortex" by Graham Kronk is a series of acrylic paintings produced on both canvas and paper, on exhibit Jan. 24 to Feb. 27 in the Art Alley of HUB-Robeson Center. In this exhibit narrative and metaphorical scenes are drawn from the artist's memory. Imagination is fodder for an experimental and existential process in which a simple plastic wall scraper threatens and reaffirms the artist's role as creator. Kronk received a bachelor of fine arts with honors from Penn State in 2006.
-- "Photographs by Prince Spells" will be on view at three Art on the Move locations: Ritenour, through March 4; West Halls, from Jan. 12 through Feb. 24; and North Halls, from Jan. 14 to March 2. As a student, Spells traveled throughout Africa documenting the lives of the people in Tanzania and East Africa. His exhibit of digital color photographs captures the everyday lives of the children, women and men and shows both the joy and the struggle they experience as citizens of the third world. Spells is pursuing a master of fine arts in photography at Penn State.
-- An exhibit of photographs titled "Life and Treasures along the Nile" River by Heide Castleman will be on view through Feb. 26 at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, as part of the HUB-Robeson Galleries' Art on the Move program. In this collection, Castleman captures the rich historical and cultural background of Egypt- a country that boasts famous pharaohs and rulers whose architectural contributions mark the basis for Castleman's inspiration. In her travels throughout Cairo and along the Nile River, Castleman recounts of her time spent in the Egyptian region as an "unforgettable experience due to the ancient monuments and the people I encountered."