Case Western Reserve University: usually, the name is associated chiefly with science and engineering, among other things. However, most would be surprised to hear that certain areas of the school are blossoming with art.

Take, for example, the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS), which was recently one of the dozens of galleries across Cleveland featuring female artists during Women’s History Month.

According to Reference and Technical Services Librarian June Hund, the art gallery in the MSASS will feature two new artists in late April-early May. Hund, who is also an artist, is currently displaying her work in another CWRU building, the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women. The Center for Women has recently doubled as a gallery space, and Hund will be the inaugural artist.

The first artist whose work will be displayed is John Saile, with his work arriving at the MSASS in late April. Saile is truly an unconventional artist; he received a double major in business and economics, and he has taken a few studio painting courses at the College of William and Mary.

Saile states, “My family had encouraged me to pursue a career that would eventually place me at the helm of a family business. So, my love of art would be relegated to museum and gallery visits for the years that followed.”

Nevertheless, the persistent artist managed to rekindle his old flame. In 2006, he became a Project 60 student at Cleveland State University and studied drawing and two-dimensional art with Peter Wells.

Saile says his art mainly incorporates drawing, be it through pastels, pencil, brush, mop or tablet. His process involved removing sections from an abstracted canvas and digitally altering said sections in what he describes as “an act of intentional disintegration of space.”

Furthermore, he states his work promotes viewers to consider time and the substance beneath their perceptions. Saile explains, “The viewer is compelled to contemplate the present state and whether we are moving in real time or just projecting what we believe to be our radar screen. All my work is intended to reflect on the impermanence and superficiality of who we believe we are and where we are.”

The second artist, Eileen Dorsey, will have her artwork arrive at the MSASS in early May. Dorsey’s work takes on a particularly different expression from Saile’s, with her work focusing primarily on landscapes.

She also places a strong emphasis on color and texture. Dorsey describes the selection of color as one of the most important decisions in her creative process. Her work is based on unrealistic colors, which rely on the first color she places on the canvas.

Dorsey’s paintings are also filled with uniquely bold texture, a result of her mixing oil paint with a stand oil medium. She assures the paint is buttery before she liberally propels it across the canvas. To finish, she sometimes applies pieces of paper and canvas atop the wet paint to give a soft appearance to her paintings.

Dorsey elaborates, “These works are a new challenge for me as a painter, not only in the texture and color of these paintings, but also in the composition. I place elements in the foreground to create a more dynamic composition. My paintings read more as expressions of a scene rather than an actual place.”

Dorsey’s work will be on display at the MSASS from beginning of May to June 17, and Saile’s work will likewise be shown at the MSASS from April 24 to June 19. Hund’s work is currently being displayed at the Center for Women.