Alumna Sara Masters' painting "CultureBloom" is on display in the Anderson House Office Building in Lansing. Post-baccalaureate student Rachel Adler also has a piece of artwork in the Farnum Office Building. Both are part of the Art in the House and Art in the Senate program. (Photo courtesy of Sara Masters)

By Rebecca Wyatt, OU Web Writer

While most artwork is displayed in galleries and museums, the artwork of two Oakland University students is on display is on display in the Senate Farnum Office Building and the Anderson House Office Building in Lansing, Mich. The work of Sara Masters, CAS ’06, and post-baccalaureate student Rachel Adler is on loan from the students to the Art in the Senate and Art in the House partnership program for one year.

In partnership with the President’s Council, the Art in the Senate and Art in the House programs feature the artwork of students from Michigan’s 15 public universities.

Adler’s artwork, an untitled drawing, is on display on the sixth floor of the Farnum Building. For her, the drawing class was just an elective.

An archeology student with a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, Adler is looking for pursue a degree in historic preservation in graduate school and many school require art classes as a prerequisite so she took a drawing class at OU.

Adler has taken art classes since high school and enjoys working with stained glass, paintings and 3D art in her spare time.

Adler was contact by the Art and Art History Department and told a piece of her art was under consideration for the show. When she found out her work would be displayed in Lansing, she was surprised and excited.

“It’s nice to be validated. I’m not a person who is comfortable with my artwork. When opportunities like this come along, I think maybe I am better at this than I thought, and I can validate the time and effort I spent working on the piece,” said Adler.

Adler is currently taking another art class at OU — painting.

“I feel like the art classes at Oakland are the first time I’ve really enjoyed art,” said Adler.

Masters’ work, a 5-foot-by-4-foot oil on canvas painting title “CultureBloom,” has been chosen to represent all of the art. Her work will be the piece pictured when all 30 pieces can’t be used and it was highlighted at the unveiling earlier this year.

“The unveiling was a lot of fun. I was able to meet a lot of senators and then we went around and talked about all of the pieces on display,” said Masters.

“CultureBloom” was a piece Masters used in her senior thesis show in the spring and it received a lot of praise.

“I only started taking art classes in my sophomore year of college,” said Masters. “I became interested in it after taking a watercolor class during the summer, but it has become a big part of my life. It’s just a way to express yourself. If I’m not painting, I’m not happy. I love to paint. It makes me feel complete.”

Masters plans to go back to school in January to get an art teaching certification.

For more information on the art programs at Oakland University, visit the Department of Art and Art History Web site.