Art and Business Students Team up on Film Exhibit

Last spring, Saint Mary’s students majoring in business, English, communication, and sociology joined art and art history majors to launch Surplus|Lack, a one-night art installation in San Francisco’s Mission District, a multicultural neighborhood with a rich tradition in the arts. Co-curated by Peter Freund, professor of art theory and practice and a filmmaker, and Jaime Baron, assistant professor at the University of Alberta, the exhibit looked at how filmmakers captured their voices without creating a blockbuster, feature-length film. The show’s 21 films ranged from two seconds to 13 minutes and explored themes of loss, absence, and excess.

“Surplus|Lack was an interesting kind of test case to see how the humanities could collaborate with the business department,” Freund said. He is hoping for future cross-departmental collaborations that merge art and culture with the business and technological aspects of the 21st century. Meeting with Freund once or twice a week, the students developed a marketing plan and marketing materials, researched venues, and built a website.

The business students learned artistic concepts and terminology to communicate between artists, venues, and news outlets. The humanities students learned relevant business tools to market creative work and succeed in a competitive art world.