Art grad student makes ordinary objects extraordinary art

Art has held a fascination for Texas A&M University-Commerce graduate student Jeremy Newton since his childhood.

Scheduled to graduate in May 2010, Newton currently works full-time as a graduate assistant in the art department where he helps with 3D design and sculpture classes. He said he particularly enjoys giving demonstrations on the use of non-traditional materials in order to broaden students' artistic ability to utilize everyday materials in new ways.

"I like to help students grow and mature in their skills and ideas as well as be consistent," he said.

Newton's ultimate career goal is to become an art instructor at the university level with an emphasis in 3D design and sculpture.

Newton said his favorite aspect of artwork is choosing materials for construction, most of which he purchases at Wal-Mart or dollar stores.

"I enjoy the process, but it's not my favorite part," he said. "I would say choosing the material and actually seeing it resurrect into form at the end is the best part. They're just humble everyday materials that we use, and then you get see them differently. That's what's special about it, valuing something more in a state that you would never think possible."

Newton first began seriously pursuing the study of art during his senior year of high school after he entered an art symposium held by Kilgore College (KC), a junior college in Kilgore, Texas. The competition featured entries from 62 area high school seniors. Newton placed fifth overall and was offered a scholarship to attend KC where he earned an associate degree in art.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in 2005, Newton was accepted to Louisiana Tech University. Although he completed 30 hours toward a Master of Fine Arts degree, Newton said a lack of thorough preparation for graduate school hindered his progress.

"I wasn't prepared for graduate school at that time," he said. "I could see the handwriting on the wall. I just decided it was best to move on from there and try another place, which brought me back to Texas."

After extensive research, Newton applied to A&M-Commerce. Art department graduate coordinator Michael Miller granted Newton an interview with he and two other faculty members. After seeing slides of his artwork, Miller and the faculty members agreed to give Newton a chance.

Although he lost 21 credit hours in the transfer to A&M-Commerce, Newton said the disappointment impacted him positively.

"It helped me grow in the process, and it helped me get to where I'm at today," he said.

Rather than currently trying to sell his artwork, Newton keeps his pieces for exhibition in juried art shows. Newton had three pieces selected for show in the Texas National Art Competition and Exhibition this year in Nacogdoches April 4 - May 17.

Newton said since opportunities for in-state sculpture shows are somewhat scarce, he is currently concentrating more on 2D projects to accommodate shipping and easy setup for entrance in out-of-state shows.

Among sculptures Newton has created from ordinary materials are: a staple stalactite composed of over one million staples, a rug made from eraser shavings, a wall of compacted boiled match sticks, and two small block pieces made from blue and red notebook margin lines.

Newton took a class at Yale University this past summer.

While the class was smaller and provided fewer in-class hours than he had hoped, Newton said it was beneficial to him because he was able to receive a considerable amount of one-on-one instruction from his teacher outside of the classroom.

"It helped me to open up to new approaches for making different types of pieces," he said.

Many of Newton's sculpture pieces are available for viewing on his website jeremyrnewton.com.