The Pharmacy is more than just a downtown building, it plays host to a group of artists and writers who promote creative expression in the Springfield community. Several UIS students, both former and current were featured in a recent opening.
One of its members, Professor Allison Lacher, UIS Assistant Art Gallery Manager in HSB, said that The Pharmacy has been in the making for a couple of years and has “firmed up” as of last year.
She said, “One of the unique things about the Pharmacy is that it is comprised of community artists that come from all facets of life. Artists who have been professional artists for a long time, artists that don’t have formal training; the Pharmacy doesn’t turn anyone away, so it’s made up of artists that want to be there.”
The Pharmacy presented Breaking In on Saturday, mostly featuring artwork of current and former UIS students. This gallery was held in the Pharmacy Warehouse.
“What I like about the warehouse gallery is it’s not always a gallery,” said Lacher. “Most of the time it’s a studio, but then it will turn into this really incredible gallery space that can house a lot of work and welcome a lot of visitors.”
Breaking In featured 3 current UIS student artists, Pueblo Nieves, Dave Warren, and Mauricio Ramirez.
Pablo Nieves
Nieves is a senior with a major in Visual Arts. He prefers working with mixed media: painting, sculpture, and screen printing.
Nieves said, “I joined The Pharmacy because—besides that it’s fun—I just have always been interested in the Arts, and it’s small community in Springfield. It was an opportunity for me and other artists from different backgrounds to join together.”
Nieves has been with the Pharmacy since May. He described his work as “urban surrealism.”
For Breaking In, Nieves painted skateboards hung from the wall as well as a traditional loose painting on a canvass called “Foxy.”
He is interested in creating design ideas for extreme sports.
Dave Warren
A senior majoring in Visual Arts, Warren said he joined The Pharmacy “for the opportunity to interact with other members of the Springfield art community. A place to talk shop and get critiques on my work, a chance to improve my work.”
Warren has been with The Pharmacy since May; he was introduced to The Pharmacy through Professor Shane Harris who was teaching professional art skills.
Warren does digital and traditional illustrations. In regard to his loose paintings in the gallery, “The ones [at Breaking In] have a Sci-Fi Fantasy theme to it. The three pieces are called The Slave, The Tyrant, and The Authority.”
He said he would like to be a sequential artist working on storyboards and graphic novels, and he is interested in applying for an illustration or sequential art Masters program.
Mauricio Ramirez
Ramirez is a senior and English major who started out painting graffiti when he was 14 years old. It was only a year ago that he began to paint on canvasses.
He said, “I thought it would be interesting to explore different ways to paint. And I think people should explore outside their comfort zones, and that’s what I did when I started painting on the canvass.”
Ramirez joined The Pharmacy 4 months ago for the studio space.
“My art is very colorful, and I always do paintings. I use letters–typography–as a vehicle to carry all the different cool ideas I have. I just try to keep it fun; that’s the ultimate thing.”
Ramirez wants a career in painting and designing airplanes.
Lacher said for anyone interested in joining The Pharmacy, they must apply online. “There’s a ‘contact us’ and if anyone is interested in joining the pharmacy–which supports artists and writers–then they should reach out to The Pharmacy through the forum and it will be forwarded to several people.”
For more information on the Pharmacy, visit http://thepharmacygallery.com
Former UIS student artists featured in the Pharmacy’s Breaking In on Saturday
Skan Jolly Arrogent Atrophy
Jolly graduated a year ago. His art for the show was a mix media sculpture of a pair of feet descending down elevated stairs. He said the artwork reflects on a personal matter.
“My dad was paralyzed when I was in high school. I wanted to present them [paraplegics] in a strong light, coming down the stairs to meet you half way.”
He joined the Pharmacy because, “It’s hard to make work by yourself. When you’re around your friends or people who critique you, then the work gets a lot better and quicker. It seemed like the logical next step for me.”
Jolly’s plan is to continue creating art for the next year while he looks into grad schools.
Brad Balster Loudmouth, Escape, Before and After
Brad graduated this summer and joined the Pharmacy a few months before. He enjoys printmaking.
“My focus at UIS was in screen printing and graphic design,” he explained.
He said, “I knew once I graduated I wanted a place to keep working on my stuff, and I felt this [The Pharmacy] was the best step for a graduate, for my resume.”
He had 3 art pieces at Breaking In, each a collage created with screen-printing.
Judah Johnson Untitled
Johnson graduated from UIS in 2011. He said he joined the Pharmacy, “Because they are showing better art than anyone in Springfield.”
Johnson’s art at the show consisted of square canvasses with light abstract paintings. Some pieces were on large canvasses while others comprised of small square canvasses in a column. When he is not painting, he is helping restore old houses in Springfield.
Sara Joseph Sally
Joseph graduated this summer. She has been with the Pharmacy for several years and works with ceramics and sculptures.
She had one sculpture for the show of a balding woman in the nude. She said she normally does not do “creepy” art, and “At the next show I’ll do something else, but I just wanted to do something creepy this time,” she said.
Karen Borema Untitled
Borema graduated in May and joined the Pharmacy over the summer. She mainly works with molds.
She had mixed and matched ceramic cups on top of mixed and matched pedestals of white and wood furnishes. She said she handmade cups and mass-produced others in a mold, “then I made them interchangeable so they could go together, and that’s behind the pedestals too. The pedestals mimic the cups.”
Karen is currently a non-degree seeking student at SIUE.
