Senior Giorgi is featured Forefront artist

Grove City College student Nicolas Giorgi ’17 is a featured visual artist at this weekend’s Forefront Festival, which highlights the work of Christian artists.

Giorgi, of Ellwood City, Pa., is a communications major with a concentration in design who is a leading student in the College’s visual arts program. He will exhibit his work and demonstrate screen printing at the festival, which runs from 2 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Grace Road Church in Rochester, N.Y.

The festival, which features artists, musicians and other creative people, is an outgrowth of Forefront, an organized movement that encourages Christian artists to make excellent art. Organizers say that making innovative, high quality art is the best way for Christian artists to glorify God and impact the world.

Giorgi said he isn’t completely comfortable with being labeled. “Frankly, I find the term "Christian Artist" inaccurate,” he said, and cited artist and writer Makoto Fujimura, who on a recent visit to campus said “Christian” is not an adjective, but a noun.

“My art isn't exactly aimed at Christians, because Christianity, unfortunately, is in the minority in this world … I want to make pieces of art that will allow me to connect with others on an interpersonal level. I find, for me, that is significantly more effective at cultivating the seed of faith than making art explicitly about Christ,” Giorgi said.

Giorgi likes to have fun with his art, both in creation and reaction. “If I don't enjoy what I'm working on, generally, it won't be something I'm proud of. With that being said, I do like to offer a general message with what I'm producing. Sometimes it's a simple joke, other times it the visualization of one of my experiences. I try to make my work personal, but fun,” he said.

While his career as an artist is in its infancy, Giorgi said he has two goals he hopes that his work can accomplish: To “instigate some type of thought” and “simply make the world more beautiful.”

Nate Mucha, assistant professor of design, said Giorgi is “a fantastic, multidisciplinary student who not only possesses great natural ability but a tenacious work ethic.”

“I’ve had the pleasure of instructing Nic in almost every course that I offer, and he impresses at every turn. As an artist, designer, thinker, and craftsman, having Nic as a featured artist at the Forefront Festival makes perfect sense to me,” Mucha said.

For more about the Department of Communications and Visual Art at Grove City College, visit www.gcc.edu/comm.​