Tufts Creatives: Paint with all the colors of the wind

Combining art and activism may seem risky. But senior Ella Huzenis and junior Eliza Ball, members of the Tufts curating collective Polykhroma, believe there is no better place to discuss important issues than at an art show. This Friday, Polykhroma and Tufts Climate Action (TCA) are hosting a captivating exhibition that promises incredible student artwork and meaningful conversation, so be sure to stop by 46 Quincy St. between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.!

Julian Blatt (JB): How did you get the idea to do a combined show with TCA?

Ella Huzenis (EH): One of our members last year was involved in TCA, and she thought it would be interesting for the two groups to produce a show together. She made the connection for us, and everything went really well, so when TCA reached out to us earlier this year we were more than willing to join forces with them again.

Eliza Ball (EB): We were all pleasantly surprised because we didn’t expect that TCA would want to work with us. Last year was our first year as a group; we had only presented a few shows.

EH: I think people really liked what we were doing, and they thought, “How can we mix this with something that we do?” And thus the TCA Art Show was born.

EB: We’ve been trying to incorporate more polemic themes into our exhibitions, so the TCA show is right up our alley.

JB: What theme are you presenting this year?

EB:TCA chose the theme for this show, and our joint theme is “Visions.” We don’t want to seem exclusive and make people feel like they can’t submit their art: We prefer broad themes, and “Visions” is a good example of that.

JB: What impact do you hope the show has on people?

EB: It’s a good way to bring awareness to climate change. And also for students to realize that there are multiple spaces on campus in which they can address important topics, and there are many opportunities for them to participate in conversations about climate change and other complex issues.

JB: Going forward, do you want to work more with TCA, as well as other on-campus environmental and activist groups?

EB: I imagine the TCA show will turn into an annual event, which is thrilling. We do our own shows as well, but it’s invigorating to work with other groups, especially for specific causes.

EH: And the TCA show last year had a much more diverse turnout than we had noticed at our own shows, in terms of people’s interests and backgrounds in art and passion about environmental issues. The excitement of having a totally new group of people to discuss these issues with was something we really enjoyed and would like to experience again.

JB: In just a sentence or two, why should people come to the show?

EH: It’s going to be an interesting, creative and social space where many new and stimulating conversations will take place. And there will be plenty of student art for people to appreciate.