Work of Chinese artist on display in Campus Center

The artwork of Chinese painter Wen-Guang Chen is on exhibit in the Campus Center from March 4-13. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

The opening lecture by the artist occurred on Tuesday, March 4 and was entitled "Colors and Beauty: Revisiting the Artistic Traditions of China and Japan." Macalester Trustee Joan Adams Mondale '52, a famed potter and advocate of the arts, also spoke at the event.

Chen was born in China, and was educated there and in Japan. He received a Ph.D. from the Tokyo University of Arts and Music. He teaches Chinese and Japanese art at Guangzhou College of Arts. He also has a visiting professorship at Beijing College of Arts. Chen is renowned for his mastery of Japan's Nihonga art form, and is also known for his work in promoting internationalism in the arts.

His artwork combines contemporary style with the Japanese Nihonga tradition, which was brought to Japan from China during the 8th century. The style of painting uses rice-paper, silk, gold and silver leaf as well as ground semi-precious minerals.

The exhibit is being sponsored by the Freeman Foundation, a New York based firm that donated a grant to the college last year to support Chinese studies as part of Macalester's Asian Studies Program.
 

Anyone want $17,000?

This Friday will culminate the campaign kicked off by three Macalester students in conjunction with the Alumni Board to educate students about how much it really costs for them to go to Macalester (more than we pay) and where that extra money comes from (alumni).

According to Cammie Downing '03, the actual cost of a Macalester education hovers around $47,000; full tuition paying students pay a mere $30,2888. Most of that $17,000 per student difference is paid by gifts from Macalester alumni, either through the Annual Fund or from investment returns from past donations.

"Mac is a really expensive school," Downing said, "so it's hard to think about how the ticket price for a year at Mac is actually a bargain."

Downing said she has organized the campaign along with Susan Andersen '03 and Utu Talapusi '04 to inform students about the source of this extra money, as well as about where all of it actually goes.

"Most every student knows how their financial aid works," she said, "but few actually know what they're paying for." The group has posted signs this past week that break down some of the figures.

On Friday every student will receive a "check" for $17,000 in his or her SPO, "just to drive home the idea that it is sort of a subsidy that we're all getting," Downing explained. A table will be located downstairs in the Campus Center where students can "endorse" their check as a show of appreciation. Alumni will also be around wearing stickers that provide some tidbit of their Macalester identity ("I lived in Doty 301!"), that Downing hopes will allow students to create a connection with alums. "They want us to know that there is an intergenerational connection, and that they want to be contributing to our education," she said.

Tom Wick, who then worked in the Development Office, approached Downing last year about the idea of educating students on these issues, she said, and she has been planning the campaign since the summer with Talapusi and Andersen.