Interdisciplinary exhibit at Messiah College’s Aughinbaugh Gallery explores the Yellow Breeches Creek

	"Breeching Boundaries: The Yellow Breeches Creek Bank Restoration Project" Click on image to download print-quality version
	Peter Richards, San Francisco Exploratorium Click on image to download print-quality version

GRANTHAM, Pa. (Sept. 28, 2006) — Messiah College’s department of visual art announces a new exhibit: "Breeching Boundaries, The Yellow Breeches Creek Bank Restoration Project.” A class of senior art students, under biology professor David Foster’s supervision, will conduct preliminary research and data gathering for an interdisciplinary project focused on the nature and maintenance of the Yellow Breeches. With the direction of Peter Richards, visiting artist from the San Francisco Exploratorium, the results of this scientific project will be translated into a creative art presentation, which will then be displayed at the Aughinbaugh Gallery from Oct. 20 – Nov. 22. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Aughinbaugh Gallery is located on the ground floor of Climenhaga Fine Arts Center at Messiah’s Grantham campus. The gallery’s hours are Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 to 5 p.m.

About the project

The Yellow Breeches-inspired exhibit is the first of its kind to be showcased at the gallery. Staff and students alike are excited to embark on this unprecedented mix of science, research and creative inspiration. “It is often a misconception,” says visual arts professor Ted Prescott, “that good design comes from intuition or inspiration. More often than not, it is the result of lots of research, data gathering, data processing and synthesis and, most importantly, good questions.”

The group of students that will be formulating such questions hopes to, with the guidance of Richards’ and Foster’s expertise, develop a plan for the restoration and increased accessibility of the Yellow Breeches Creek, whose banks have been imperiled by recent flooding.

This class will first engage in learning as much as possible about the site through a process of extensive research. The research results will then be folded together to create a realistic picture of the nature of the Yellow Breeches Creek as it passes through the Messiah College campus. This synthesis of information, displayed in Aughinbaugh Gallery, can then inform a design process for stabilizing the creek banks and creating a plan for community access and use. Both aesthetics and economics will be influential in assessing information and ideas.                   

About supervising artist: Peter Richards

Directing the project will be Peter Richards, the senior artist for the San Francisco Exploratorium. The Exploratorium was established 25 years ago by Frank Oppenheimer—with Richards at his side. The Exploratorium led the way for many science museums of today, and it is still considered the leading museum of its kind. Richards has developed many creative and novel projects that focus on the reconsideration and visualization of data. His projects encourage non-specialists to comprehend complex information in more immediate ways.

About the Aughinbaugh Gallery

Messiah College’s art gallery hosts new exhibits on a monthly basis, displaying the work of students, faculty and nationally recognized artists in popular shows open to public viewing. The shows cover a gamut of styles, from conceptual art to traditional. The gallery often sponsors artist lectures and discussions on their work, or has visiting artists demonstrate various techniques to classes of art students at the college. Its program is designed to supplement classroom instruction.

About Messiah College
Messiah College, a private Christian College of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls more than 2,800 undergraduate students in 50 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg. A satellite campus affiliated with Temple University is located in Philadelphia.