UNC Asheville’s STEAM studio is wrapping up a two-week long exhibition of a project that has been under active construction for several years.The exhibit, titled “UNCA Steam Studio: 6 Years in the Making,” was introduced with a public reception on August 31, and concluded Sept. 14 in S. Tucker Cooke gallery of Owen Hall.
UNC Asheville’s STEAM department rented studio space at RAMP, an acronym for the River Arts Market Place, to further students’ ability to collaborate with multiple fields. This is a core piece of the university’s values as a liberal arts institution: to invite all students to immerse themselves in various fields outside their specific field of study.
Founded in 2016, the STEAM studio is a collaborative workspace where other small businesses and newfound artists can rent studio space as well.
According to UNCA officials, this is a space where they engage the next generation of makers, engineers, artists and entrepreneurs, who work side-by-side with faculty and staff experts experienced in all facets of the creative process.
This is a core piece of the university’s values as a liberal arts institution: to invite all students to immerse themselves in various fields outside their specific field of study.
Sara Sanders is an alum of UNCA, having graduated in 2011 from the Mechatronics program. Sanders is the current director of STEAM studio, and has taken a great deal of charge around the exhibition.
“The exhibit was in the works for approximately four months, but it really came together in the two weeks before it opened. It consists of work from our three areas of focus; academic classes at UNCA, projects and community outreach,” Sanders said. STEAM utilizes SkillSet for their community outreach program.
The SkillSet program for STEAM at UNCA is funded by The Community Foundation of West North Carolina and the Wingate Foundation, and has been in operation since 2018. They work to teach and develop accessible programming in the fields of STEAM.
The exhibition in Owen Hall was a conglomerate of different mediums and ideas. Some of the structures were larger than life, such as Wake, a figurehead from artist Mel Chin’s studio.
Sanders and her team sourced materials from all around Asheville, and said the timing worked perfectly to accumulate these structures.
“There are arboretum animals from the NC Arboretum, and the geodesic dome from Asheville Art Museum,” Sanders said of some of the exhibit pieces.
Sanders works alongside STEAM Studio technician Leslie Rosenberg, who leads SkillSet courses while also assisting in certain UNCA courses.
“I think the most exciting aspect of the exhibit for me was seeing it all in one space,” Rosenberg said. “It’s been such an honor to work on many of these projects. Seeing them all together feels like we accomplished a lot in the last six years and did a lot of meaningful work.”
This exhibit was created by a passionate group of artists and technicians who shared the vision of a creative collection. STEAM hopes to continue to inspire students by extending SkillSet courses to elementary and middle school students.
“There is so much to be said for the power of creating,” said Rosenberg. “It brings people together, it evokes awe and wonder, it celebrates our shared humanity.”
