Central College welcomes the works of Grant William Thye, an artist and Class of 1993 Central graduate. Thye’s painting and collage exhibit is titled “Kiddin’ Around: Works in Progress,” and will be on display during Homecoming 2023.
A reception for the artist will be held in the Mills Gallery from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Sept. 30. The Mills Gallery, Lubbers Center for the Visual Arts on Central’s campus, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This exhibit is on display through Friday, Oct. 27.
Brian Roberts, professor of art and 1992 Central graduate, curated the exhibit. Roberts invites alumni artisans to the gallery over the Homecoming weekend each year for classmates and alumni to enjoy while on campus for the festivities.
“The inspiration for this show came from my children,” Thye says. “When I became a full-time artist, I decided I would work each day until it was no longer fun. When I could no longer concentrate, if I started getting frustrated, stressed, mad or if it began to feel like work, I would stop for the day. Now with a four- and/or two-year-old in the studio, there is a different kind of fun being had. My kids influenced some of the works on display. Some came out of a direct order from my kids. And others are just a reminder to have fun while doing what I love. It is all definitely a work in progress.”
Thye works primarily from memory, using quick and unfinished sketches. In those, he finds shapes and lines to use as a starting point. Thye had a close relationship with the late Larry Mills, professor emeritus of art at Central, even after college. Mills encouraged Thye to paint more from memory as a way of adding an extra dimension to the work.
Rather than just a simple rendering, both the artist’s and viewer’s thoughts, feelings and experiences can find their way into the work. It also allows the viewer to connect the piece to their own memory and not just the artist’s view. Painting and collage make up the majority of Thye’s current work, but he also uses printmaking and sculpture in his studio.
Thye is a Chicago-based artist, originally from Grundy Center, Iowa. He graduated from Central in 1993 and completed post-graduate studies at Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University. Before settling in Chicago as an artist, Thye worked for Pella Corporation, living in Ohio North Carolina and California. Outside of his Chicago studio, Thye can be found helping on the family farm near Grundy Center.
