Simonides of Ceos, an ancient Greek poet, was at a banquet. When he stepped outside the banquet hall to speak with friends, he turned to find the hall collapsing behind him.

Once the rubble was cleared, the bodies of those inside were too far decimated to be recognized, but Simonides was able to achieve identification by remembering where each one was sitting in the hall.

This is the earliest recorded use of a “memory palace” — an association of things to be remembered with tangible objects in space and time. Such is the inspiration behind OU professor and artist Sally Schluter Tardella’s work, currently on display at the Oakland University Art Gallery.

Tardella took part in an Artist Talk with an audience on September 9 at the OUAG.

After a brief introduction by gallery director Dick Goody, Tardella opened with a statement.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about place,” she said, “and by place I mean where I am right now, where you are, where I was, what I thought about where I was, what I remember about where I was, what I think about it now and how would I change it.”

Tardella’s work consists of large, brightly colored paintings which she says are “floor plans” of spaces that she remembers from childhood, now revisited through her “adult lens.” They also fill journals with accordion-like pages, describing different objects of significance.

It’s one thing to come to a gallery and stroll around the space, looking on in wonderment at the pieces dotting the walls. But it’s another thing entirely to have a window into the creative process of the artist.

That’s where OU Artist Talks come in.

“These talks deal with an artist’s studio practice, delving into the psychology and motivation behind the work,” Goody said. “They also explore how the work is made, the techniques used and so on.”

“(These talks are) very helpful for art students in particular,” Goody said. (They) can begin to see the kind of processes at play in working every day to make a body of work and how to sustain a career as an artist.”

Don’t be fooled, these talks are not just for those who aspire to create. The events are public, so everyone is encouraged to attend.

“Similarly, a non-studio art student’s curiosity will be piqued by looking at someone who is working, not for someone else, like an employee, but for themselves,” Goody said.

Each year there are approximately 10 talks, but Goody said they have 15 scheduled for this year. So there is more opportunity than ever to come down to the OUAG, see the creative process, and be “allowed into a secret domain,” as Goody puts it.

Director of studio art and professor, Cody Vanderkaay, says he enjoys the art-related events at OU, especially those of his colleagues.

“Artist Talks, gallery events (and) lectures provide audience members with frameworks to discover personally unique points of view, potentially reshaping the way one thinks about and participates with (their) environment, community and larger social sphere,” he said.

Ultimately, helping enrich the lives of individuals through the wonderment of art is what the OUAG hopes to do with its Artist Talks.

“We want to bring people and art together and grow our audience,” Goody said.

“Successful artists invariably possess genius,” he said. “This in itself is fascinating. These talks are inspiring and always full of surprises.”