by Aimee LaBrie
Inspired by a project taken on by senior student Hannah Morris, an effort is underway on campus to photograph all existing artwork across both campuses. Morris, an arts administration major in the School of the Fine and Performing Arts, asked Professor Harry Naar if she might take on the much-needed but time-intensive task of archiving all paintings, sculptures and other works of art acquired by Rider over the years. The result is an ongoing effort to photographically capture what amounts to works from sculptors and painters ranging from New Jersey-based artist Mel Leipzig to Louis Finkelstein, a painter whose work has been compared to that of Cezanne. Once finished, the plan is to house these photos digitally for the public to enjoy on Rider’s SmugMug gallery.
Morris is very grateful for the opportunity the University has given her to take on this project. “Rider has a really good culture of enabling students to do things that they may not otherwise think of doing. This has taught me that every piece of art on the campus has a story,” Morris says. “It also shows the rich history of the donations that have been given to Rider University.”
