Art Students Create Professional Portfolios with Gift from Peter Roos

From Renee Staudinger, College and Media Relations: A gift from art professor Peter Roos has created a new computer lab for studio art majors on the third floor of the Redfern. The ten brand-new Mac computers in the lab have Photoshop and InDesign software and a special hard-drive-like section that allows each student to save work sessions, so they can create and manipulate their work without restrictions. The studio art curriculum has been updated to include image manipulation and other new digital techniques.

Chris Cormier (Physical Plant) helped to reconfigure the existing space by moving closets, recycling existing fixtures, and changing carpets. The newly renovated room can be used to photograph work, and students can then upload the photographs onto the computer to create a professional digital portfolio. This is especially important for seniors, who need to be able to present work in a way that is accessible and of high quality. In the past, the department created slides for student portfolios, but that outdated method may now hurt more than help new graduates as they look for jobs, Roos says. “Because technology makes it easier and better, artists are now using disks of images as well as originals to show their work,” says Rosemarie Bernardi, art department chair. The new computer lab brings Keene State’s studio art program up to the curve, in style.