The reception party for the Taiwanese Watercolor Paintings Exhibition was hosted at 10 a.m. last Friday, February 25th by Flora Chang, the president of TKU at the Carrie Chang Fine Arts Center. Six of the exhibiting artists attended the reception and signed for their fans at a signing ceremony during the party. A good number of university’s faculty and staff turned up and lined up for this rare opportunity.

These artists made this trip up to Tamsui specifically for the reception from various parts of Taiwan. Among them, Chen Ming- shan and Chen Jia- shang, who are both in their seventies, arrived at Tamsui even the night before to avoid any possible delay that might be caused by traffic jam the second day. The former donated his painting, Fishing Boat on the Sea of Northern Taiwan, to TKU.

Flora Chang thanked them wholeheartedly for their participation in spite of the appalling wet weather. Their presence certainly brought excitement to the fans as well as to the exhibition, which has been considered a great success so far by all the visitors who have seen the paintings. Some western visitors even praised the mastery skills these artists demonstrated with an art that is in fact originated from the West. Li Chi-mao, the Director of the Center also could not hide his pride in organizing this exhibition and considers it one of the best his institute has hosted ever since its inauguration. Paying tribute to these artists, President Chang invited them to paint Tamsui or Lanyang campus to commemorate TKU’s 55th anniversary this year.

Artists were equally impressed by the art center. Chen Yang-chun, who was the supervising teacher of TKU’s Calligraphy Society and Painting and Sketching Club 30 years ago, showed his appreciation by stating Tamkang being his favorite exhibition venue.

This exhibition of nearly 70 paintings will continue until March 20th. In parallel to it, there is another exhibition of the center’s treasured collection of watercolors from various periods. In particular, seven of the exhibited works showing Tamkang campus created in the 70’s are worth a visit. Everyone is welcome. (Ying-hsueh Hu )

Picture: Renowned watercolor painters, Chen Jia-shang, Chen Ming-shan, Chen Chung-chang, Cheng Hsian-lung, Chen Yan-chun and Su Hsin-fa arrived last week for the opening ceremony of the exhibition that displays their works. They also stayed for a signing ceremony to meet their TKU fans and signed on the exhibition catalogue.