By ALENA HANSON

Contributing Writer

Amy Pleasant and Pete Schulte brought a unique art collection to Piedmont’s Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art. The duo’s collection, entitled “Coupling,” is open to the public and Piedmont students, faculty and staff.

The fact that there are no labels on the artwork is a  unique aspect to the current collection on display. Every piece’s title has been marked down on a gallery map to help the viewers identify each piece. 

Schulte created a sphere sculpture with two halves: a black and a white. 

Pleasant’s “Head in the Water” has a more abstract feel, being more organic compared to Schulte’s more geometrical style. 

“My favorite piece was ‘The Door’ because I could find the meaning of it within myself,” freshman Lizbeth Aguilera said. 

Schulte also did a site-specific  piece that now covers two walls of the museum. Not only is the piece unique to the gallery, but it will also be painted over once the show concludes. The original piece is entitled “School of Athens(Splitting 5).” 

Pleasant received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts (BFA) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an Master’s of Fine Arts (MFA) from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Pa. 

She has also held solo exhibitions at the Jeff Bailey Gallery, Whitespace Gallery, The Birmingham Museum of Art, The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center; CANDYLAND, Rhodes College and several others. 

Her work has also been included in group exhibitions in venues such as The Knoxville Museum of Art, The National Museum for Women in the Arts, The U.S. Embassy, Prague and the Czech Republic. Pleasant’s work has been reviewed in publications such as Sculpture Magazine. 

Schulte received an MFA from the University of Iowa in 2008. Schulte’s recent exhibitions include Build a Fire at Whitespace Gallery, Drawings and Paintings with John Dilg at Jeff Bailey Gallery and Pardon up Here at Luise Ross Gallery in New York. 

His work has been included in recent group exhibitions at Look&Listen. 

He has been awarded residencies at Yaddo, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Atlantic Center for Art and Threewalls. Art in America, Burnaway and The New Art Examiner have reviewed his work, among others. 

Schulte lives and works in Tuscaloosa and teaches at the University of Alabama.

There will be a reception for the artists on Sept. 24 from 5-7 p.m. 

There, patrons will have a chance to attend the gallery and talk with the artists. 

Students craving more art experiences can visit the Smith Williams Art Gallery for Gary Pearce’s collection. 

Pearce is new to Piedmont as a professor for both art appreciation and a 2-D design class. 

His “Awakening” collection is described as his personal journey. It will be available Sept. 1 and will be on display, until Sept. 28.