UA art student Nathan Prebonick’s BFA Senior Exhibition ‘Interface’ will help connect the university with the city, along with helping to repurpose Quaker Square.
Weekend Quaker Square events also include ‘Heartfelt Holiday Popup’
— A University of Akron Myers School of Art student will launch a new exhibit this weekend that addresses better connection between the city and the university, as well as repurposing downtown’s Quaker Square complex through creative placemaking.
Nathan Prebonick’s BFA Senior Exhibition “Interface,” opening Saturday, Dec. 3, will be a two-site show between the former Quaker Square General Store and Summit Artspace. The exhibit will explore the interface between representation and abstraction through his collaged paintings over the last two years.
The show is the result of a question posed to Prebonick and other students who took part in a recent “UnClass” led by the university’s Experiential Learning program (EXL Center): How do we get the public on campus, and how do we get students into downtown?
“As a senior painting student, I put forth the idea to bring work from the Myers School of Art into unused parts of Quaker, putting Myers closer to the Akron Art Museum and Summit ArtSpace, and making it a part 
of the Akron Artwalk program,” wrote Prebonick in a recent Akronist article.
The “Interface” exhibit will continue this conversation, along with encouraging that stronger university/community connection (and will take place during this weekend’s Akron Artwalk).
And digging a little deeper, the work itself will explore how seams affect the function of a painting, along with how they may relate to this transitional period in Akron history.
“There are a surplus of exciting things happening at UA and Myers, but a lack of places for them to be seen,” wrote Prebonick in the article. “The city of Akron developed into what it is today through repurposing. As a city, we’ve reinvented our identity numerous times, from canals to oats to the Rubber City, and now as a postindustrial community. Why not repurpose the unused space the university already owns by working with its own students?”
“Interface” opens Saturday, Dec. 3, from 5 to 10 p.m. on the third floor of Summit Artspace (140 E. Market St.), along with the Quaker Square location (120 E. Mill St.). Admission is free. “Interface” also will be available to view at Summit Artspace through Dec. 31.
Heartfelt Holiday Popup
Also inspired by the EXL Center Reinventing Place course, nonprofit Global Ties Akron is co-hosting a Heartfelt Holiday Pop-Up, Dec. 2 and 3, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Quaker Square corridor between Trackside and Zee’s, and the show will feature local crafts made from upcycled materials.
Coordinated by Community Solutions Fellowship Leader Said Seif of Zanzibar, Tanzania, the pop-up will include fair trade items and upcycled art, student artists and social enterprises.
Purchases will provide local and global artists and entrepreneurs an opportunity to support their missions and preserve the art of craftsmanship.
Global Ties Akron establishes local to global economic, educational and civic connections to empower community development and build mutual understanding. The EXL Center at the University of Akron provides students and the community with opportunities for experiential learning and entrepreneurship.
A number of other events are taking place in conjunction with the above events:
Myers School of Art Holiday Shop
Dec. 1 and 2
Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Emily Davis Gallery
Myers School of Art
The Myers School of Art is hosting its annual Holiday Shop, selling student-made goods that make great gifts for the holiday season. Myers School of Art students have also been invited to sell their arts and crafts alongside Global Ties at Quaker Square on Saturday.
Central Stores
Dec. 2 and 3
Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Quaker Square Lower Level Annex- 1st Floor
Central Stores is hosting an adjacent Surplus Tag Sale in the 1st floor Annex. It runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 2 and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 3. Come sift through a curious selection of miscellaneous items, including everything from electronics to furniture and even original artwork.
For info, visit https://www.uakron.edu/art.
