By Abrielle Backhaus

It’s one thing to look at artwork, it’s another to create it.

In the exhibit “Perceptions of Light” the works intend to challenge viewers to engage with art on an emotional level so it becomes about what the audience perceives rather than what the artist saw.

The exhibit centers on artists Gail Pratt and Jack Zellner and their collection of paintings that focus on light and shadows.

Milly Akre, freshman, says she was intrigued to come to the exhibit after hearing about it from her art-based learning community with the incentive of two extra credit points.

“This is my favorite piece because of the quote next to it.” Akre said. ‘A child left in a car counts rain drops and waits.’ I thought that that was super crazy because that’s true because my mom used to always do that to me.”

Akre attended the opening reception for the exhibit on Sept. 21 and said one of her favorite parts of exhibits is that everyone can have their own perception of the pieces.

“The first thing that comes to mind is distorted because nothing is perfectly in focus,” Aker said. “I really like that. I think it’s really interesting because everybody can take that in a different way, and you have to get up close to really look at things or you can take it from a different perspective and look at it from a further distance but I really like getting close.”

Relating to the exhibit is exactly what Roberta’s Art Gallery Manager Cassie Meyer says she hopes for UW-Whitewater students.

Meyer has worked in the gallery for a little less than a year and said the reason Roberta’s Art Gallery exists is to display art specifically for the students to appreciate. This is also the reason for the multiple workshops held in Roberta’s periodically.

Meyer’s favorite part of the exhibit was a different analysis of Akre’s.

“Just the colors of this exhibit are absolutely fabulous especially the past couple of exhibits,” Meyer said. “They’ve all been incredibly colorful but just the way the colors fit with this one they really flow, which is a cool concept to have with the gallery.”

The exhibit will be on display from Sept. 16 to Oct. 8. The gallery hours are Monday to Wednesday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday the gallery is closed.

“Anyone can appreciate art,” Meyer said. “It’s never too late to start something and follow a passion. You don’t need to be a professional artist just to jump into something that you love.”

For more information on Roberta’s Art Gallery visit https://www.uww.edu/uc/things-to-do/robertas-art-gallery.