Reaching out from the stone wall along the walkway from Owen Hall to Belk Theatre, a large hand constructed of twisted metal bars points visitors toward the theater building.
This helping hand was created by Tony Delaurentis, UNC Asheville’s team lead of the electrical department, and current art student.
“That sculpture is a gesture of the campus itself being welcoming,” Delaurentis explained, “the hand coming from the campus, showing the way.”
Delaurentis has been working in UNC Asheville’s campus operations department for just over 10 years, and also is currently working toward his bachelor’s degree in art. Though he initially studied painting, it wasn’t until Megan Wolfe, associate professor of art, suggested he try working in three-dimensional art that he really found his element. With guidance from Department of Art faculty Brent Skidmore, Jackson Martin and Matt West, Delaurentis went from working in ceramics to sculpture in a variety of mediums—steel, plaster and wood.
“I like the presence of it,” Delaurentis said. “You can control the size of the artwork. It can be something that fits in your hand, or it can be as large as this room or a building…plus the freedom of different materials.”
Delaurentis’ artwork can be spied in various places around campus, including a map made of wood and shells depicting currents surrounding the Marshall Islands on display in an art classroom in Owen Hall, and a large hanging mobile in the TD Bank Atrium in Rhoades Hall. For several days his installation piece made of burlap coffee bags covering his Toyota pick-up truck was parked in front of Owen Hall.
Delaurentis splits his time between work, classes and studio time—some of which is in the studios in Owen Hall, some at his own home-studio, and some at UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio at The RAMP. It’s a balancing act that he’s well accustomed to.
“Being an art student you have to keep a schedule and be creative, and that’s very much so with my regular work, too,” Delaurentis said. “Actually my electrical job helped immensely with my artwork, because I knew how to maintain a schedule, or how to dedicate time to a project.”
His artistic eye has become a benefit to his job as well.
“The other interesting thing that came out of this as a side effect of sculpture is they teach a lot of trades that are not taught much anymore,” Delaurentis said. “We’re taught how to weld and work in wood and metal, and now we’re being taught to work with a program for a water jet metal cutter in STEAM Studio. So you get an education that’s very interdisciplinary.”
Though his previous degree accounted for most of his general education requirements, Delaurentis has branched out from his art classes to take humanities courses, as well, which has given him the chance to explore other academic fields. It’s an opportunity he enjoys.
“The other thing I’ve noticed here, which is really good, is that the students who are traditional are very welcoming too,” Delaurentis said of his classmates. “They’re very comfortable.”
Delaurentis has other ideas about projects he’d like to complete for campus in the future. And while he’s not interested in pursuing art as a career—“I already have a job,” he said—he enjoys the opportunity to create artwork that is functional and useful for campus.
“It’s nice when people say, ‘well, what do you do?’” he said of his work on campus. “Well, turn around. Here it is!”
(Image credit: UNC Asheville.)