Cara Lynch '12: Taking Art From the Studio to the Streets

by Efe Tanci

“Art is something that comes from within you that you reveal and becomes external,” says Cara Lynch ’12.

It’s a comment that makes you stop and think for a moment, the sort uttered by someone whose primary language is visual, not verbal. Luckily, we have Lynch’s artworks to provide prime examples of her description. They’ve leaped beyond the walls of studios and galleries to the streets of New York City, where they transform nondescript building facades and traffic barriers into art for the public.

Cara Lynch ’12 displays her work outside of the Ruth S. Harley University Center.

Lynch received a B.F.A in Studio Arts and she minored in art history at Adelphi University. The highlight of her experience came in 2012, when she was selected as a commissioned artist in the New York City Department of Transportation Barrier Beautification program. She received a grant for her project in 2013, resulting in her aforementioned works being displayed throughout the city.

During her time at Adelphi, she focused both on studio-based works and installations and tried to develop a language between the two.

“The faculty was excellent,” Lynch said. “They were always willing to go beyond and teach outside the class or talk with you in person. I worked closely with Professor David Hornung and Associate Professor Carson Fox, who still continues to mentor me after graduation.”

Hornung said Lynch was a joy to work with.

“She was a very dedicated student who was willing to experiment with materials and processes,” he said. “She settled on a mode of art making that suited her temperament and came to a fuller understanding of her subject matter and, I am sure, of herself.”

Lynch did several internships during her study, including a gallery internship at the Great Neck Art Center. She said that courses such as Strategies for Emerging Artists helped her during these internships, as she crystallized her knowledge.

When Lynch was queried: “Is drawing a teachable thing?”—a stereotypical question for artists—she answered in her own idiosyncratic way.

“I think you should have a certain amount of interest and talent but you can definitely teach people to draw,” she said. “There is something within you, but education helps you to spring that out. Adelphi helped me a lot to spring that out.”

Lynch considers teaching, which she already did in several workshops at Brooklyn and Bronx, as a future plan, and she wants to pursue an M.F.A. in Printmaking. But besides different career path options, the enviable graduate of Adelphi has one thing in her mind.

“My major life goal is pursuing my work,” she said. “That is more important than everything.”