  From
her office in Packard Hall, Art Professor Ruth Kolarik
looks out on a panoramic view of Pikes Peak, nicely
framed by large potted geraniums on the windowsill.
It’s a fitting arrangement for a woman whose
job is to expose students to the beauty created
by humans, hundreds of years ago and today.
Kolarik came to CC in 1978.
Since then, she says, “I have learned as much
as I have taught” by association with fellow
faculty members and visiting artists. “By
teaching at CC, I’ve gained the liberal arts
education I didn’t get as a student.”
What
is your goal when teaching art history at CC?
I try to keep people awake — literally. It’s
not always easy in a darkened classroom! I teach
them to look intensely at works of art and architecture
as well as to gain some sense of history. I hope
that my students then have sharp eyes for their
visual environment. CC students are curious, engaged,
and generally open to new ideas and experiences.
Many go on to such interesting lives. I love hearing
from former students!
You’ve spent a great
deal of time at Macedonian archeological digs, looking
for Byzantine-era mosaics. What intrigues you about
these ancient, buried works of art?
There is something thrilling about brushing away
the dirt and finding something that has been buried
for 1500 years. The passage of time is difficult
to conceptualize, but digging down through layers,
backward in time, finding some thing from the past
— that makes the passage of time concrete
for me.
When you have to dig deep
for art, does that change how you appreciate it?
It burns even the most modest object into one’s
memory.
And you’re something
of a gardener…
Gardening is my aesthetic outlet. I can utterly
lose myself in the experience of the sights and
smells of working with the earth. Growing up on
a farm, maybe I just have a thing for dirt. It is
a good lesson in life. One has to work within the
parameters of the possible, be patient, and be prepared
to declare defeat and start all over again. When
something works, it’s exhilarating.
What is art, in 20 words or
less?
Art is an arrangement of material, space, shapes,
and colors that awe and inspire, that satisfy the
eye and intellect.
Do you have a favorite artist?
Many of my favorite artists are anonymous: the painter
of the medieval Byzantine church at Nerezi in Macedonia,
Persian carpet makers, the sculptors of the Temple
of Zeus at Olympia. Better-known favorites are Brancusi,
Klee, Matisse, the architect Louis Kahn.
If the Bulletin gave you a
million dollars to spend on something interesting,
how would you spend it?
I would create a botanical garden with plants originally
from the ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and the Americas,
arranged according to place of origin.
Profiles
Ruth Kolarik
Margaret Fuller Simpson
'93
Carl Kielcheski MA '67
Ricki Spector Booker '90
Joe '81 and Edith Lowe Auner
'80
Andrew Mudge '97
Miguel Romero '00
All-CC Grad Band National
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