Dordt University hosts fifth annual "While We Were Out" art exhibit

Dordt University is hosting the fifth annual “While We Were Out” art exhibit, now through September 19. The exhibit is an opportunity for Dordt faculty, staff, students, and the extended Dordt community to showcase their creative talents and interests.

The exhibit started as a response to quarantine-living during the Covid-19 pandemic. David Platter, associate professor of art and design at Dordt University, says the exhibit was “an opportunity for the community to share and celebrate all the creative things many of us had become involved with during the peculiar isolation and lockdowns.”

The idea was well-received by the Dordt community. Platter says, “The response was exceptional, and the exhibit was quite well received after so much time apart and isolated.”

Platter believes interest and involvement in the exhibit has flourished. “Now, as we're celebrating our fifth year hosting the exhibit, it has been wonderful to reflect on the relationships formed and rich experiences of fellowship through this event. Every year it seems Dordt's makers outdo themselves, and this year is no exception.”

This year, the exhibit received over 80 entries. There is a wide range of skills and community members represented throughout the Dordt University Campus Center Art Gallery.

“We always try to accept at least one work from everyone who submits their creations. From Delmar Vander Zee and his beautiful woodwork and woodturning to our distinguished Joanne Alberda (responsible for starting Dordt's art program), faculty and faculty emeritus never cease to astonish us with their refined and diverse talents,” Platter says. “Our students and alumni add such a vibrant and fresh take on many time-honored skills and techniques with drawing, painting, ceramics, and photography showing quite well this year.”

One of the most surprising entries, crafted by Dordt senior engineering student Grant Merritt, was a 16-foot canoe.

“I first got the idea to build the canoe because I was living with my grandparents this summer for my internship. My grandfather had built a few canoes before, so I suggested that we build one together this summer,” Merritt says.

While crafting a canoe by hand is impressive in and of itself, Merritt also had to transport the canoe from California to campus. Merritt says, “I transported the canoe by tying it to the roof of my car. This worked pretty well, except in Utah where we hit some strong sidewinds, nearly blowing the canoe off, but, with some more tie-downs, this was not an issue.”

According to Platter, “This event is like one great ‘Show and Tell,’ where the creative efforts of all members of the Dordt community have an opportunity to share in celebration of God's imprint on each of us. We get to share in the co-creative calling to fill the earth with realized ideas and expressions. By doing this in the public eye of a gallery space, we invite one another to become witnesses and better equipped to know and love our neighbors.”

There will be a closing reception for the exhibit on Thursday, September 19, at 7 p.m.

About Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by the Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.