7:45 a.m., Oct. 16, 2009----"Beat It!" is the title of an art exhibit that was held last month at Arsht Hall on the University of Delaware's Wilmington campus. Art students at the University's Academy of Lifelong Learning worked with drum heads as their canvases.

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Olga van Dijk, artist and art instructor at the Academy of Lifelong Learning, challenged her students and other academy artists to create special pieces of art from the drum heads, which were donated by academy member Dick Lewis.

“I love using recyclable pieces to create art,” explained Van Dijk, adding, “The unusual shape of a round circle intrigued me, so I challenged my students to reinvent the drum head into an art project. It was far more challenging than I thought it would be.”

More than 30 drum heads were entered and exhibited from Sept. 21-25. Ribbons were awarded by juror Alice B. Hupfel, a member of the board of directors at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts. Drum heads were judged for creativity, originality, design, technique, and presentation.

Academy artist Sharon Bromley was awarded first place for "Sweat Equity," which was cited as an outstanding design with very unusual materials. Bromley's work was inspired by summer renovation work at her house and included screws, nails, and broken glass.

Jerie Kunitsky won second place for "What's It All About?" Judy Holton won third place for "Rumors from the Sun," and Beryl Bouck received honorable mention for "I See Serpants?"

Van Dijk is planning another drum head art show next year.

The Academy of Lifelong Learning is a membership organization for adults 50 and over to exchange ideas, take classes, teach, and travel together. More than 200 courses are offered each semester in such subject areas as the arts and humanities, health, computers, languages, and science. Of those, at least 20 are art classes covering painting, sculpture, woodcarving, and art appreciation.

Additional information is available at the Academy of Lifelong Learning Web site.

Article by Nora Riehl Zelluk
Photo by Ron Yabroff