Grey and empty brick walls meet the eyes of students and staff when they first step foot on the Mt. Hood Community College campus.

Or at least that is what they see if they don’t look beyond the school’s surface.

Despite being a diverse and accredited institution, MHCC’s outer appearance has been described by many students and faculty as being “boring” and “concrete,” lacking in both color and personality.

But visual arts teacher Lori Lorion and her painting and drawing students have thought of a solution and have recently put it into action.

While teaching at Reedley College in California, Lorion had an idea to increase student expression at school by exhibiting artwork in different areas on campus. She worked with the school on the project and eventually was able to launch her art exhibition idea at Reedley.

When she joined the teaching staff at Mt. Hood Community College during fall quarter 2004, she decided she would work on getting MHCC to adopt the same art-friendly environment as her former school.

“It will add to the diversity of the school because it will show different students’ points of views” said Lorion. “Art doesn’t always have to soften the image of a school. Sometimes it can challenge it. We want to have more of an art presence up at the main campus. We have it tucked away down here (in the Visual Arts area), but not everyone ventures here.”

Painting student Mary Walsh agrees with her instructor. “I think it will make the school friendlier and more appealing,” Walsh said. “Right now the school is boring, but I think that the art will add color to it.”

Late last month, about 30 paintings and drawings were moved from the visual arts area to the Vista Dining Room and were hung by the maintenance staff.

Walsh, who has three pieces in Vista - a black and white still-life, a grid painting of a broken angel, and an impasto of a woman - is flattered to have her artwork displayed. “It’s kind of intimidating,” she said, “but I feel honored to have my paintings hung. It’s a little scary, though, because my innermost feelings are now hanging-up for strangers to see.”

Painting student Mariann Farley is also pleased to have her paintings hung in Vista. She has four pieces displayed including a triptec of a sunflower in the summer, spring and fall to symbolize youth, prime and old age. “I love gardening, and I really get into my gardening,” she said. “I have a lot of sunflowers and I noticed that they are different every season. I decided to use them as a symbolism of aging.”

Lorion said she has not decided on a system for choosing the pieces to be displayed in the future but she says that the artwork will be changed at the beginning of every quarter.
“We are just so excited to share this with the rest of the campus,” she said. “Great art is being created down here, and MHCC is such a great school to take art classes at.”

According to a few art students, just knowing that your art is going to be viewed by other students and staff can affect the way you paint. “It makes me try harder because I don’t have just myself to please anymore,” said Walsh.

Farley agrees. “I love challenges. It makes me work harder to do the best job that I possibly can.”

Farley also says that when you see your painting displayed for the first time, your reaction can be very interesting. “Every time you put paintings up in a different environment they’re going to look different. The lighting allows you to see them differently,” she said. “It makes you want to pull out a paint brush and fix things.”

As for the future of this art endeavor, Lorion hopes that it will develop into something more as spring quarter continues. She hopes other campus divisions will request artwork for display. “We can put up art just about anywhere you can lock (the doors) at night,” she said.

Lorion and her art students would like to start displaying other forms of artwork around the campus, including sculptures and technological art, but the display cases needed would have to be funded by the school or some other source.

“(Overall, the school) would have a better atmosphere for student expression and we could actually see what’s going on in the students’ minds,” she said.

“People will talk about the art both negatively and positively but it’s much more interesting than looking at blank walls,” Lorion added.

Walsh would like to see more artwork displays. “I really want to see more art exhibited,” she said. “It makes us feel a lot more appreciated."