a work by SFA art student Santiago Escobedo is among the works featured in the collaborative "Pen & Pigment" exhibition

This work by SFA art student Santiago Escobedo is among the works featured in the collaborative "Pen & Pigment" exhibition, which opens Friday, March 21, and runs through April 16 in Griffith Gallery on the SFA campus.


NACOGDOCHES, Texas - A collaborative project between Stephen F. Austin State University student writers and artists will culminate in the annual "Pen & Pigment" exhibition, which opens at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 21, in Griffith Gallery in the Griffith Fine Arts Building.

"Pen & Pigment is an annual event created to promote creativity and collaboration between creative writing and fine arts students," said Shaun Roberts, assistant professor of painting in the SFA School of Art. "This year, students from advanced poetry and advanced painting are working together to develop a body of work for the art exhibition."

First, each student starts out making a piece of work inspired by his or her own artistic vision and aesthetics, Roberts explained. Next, the classes exchange work anonymously, and each student chooses a work for which they wish to create a response.

"In the end, the gallery show features around 20 paintings and 20 poems that explore how 'pen' inspired 'pigment' and 'pigment' inspired 'pen,'" Roberts said.

The show is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts, School of Art and the Creative Writing Program within the Department of English and is part of the Gallery Series.

The show runs through April 16 and is sponsored in part by the Nacogdoches Junior Forum and SFA Friends of the Visual Arts. Regular hours for Griffith Gallery are 12:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Admission is free. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.