Juried Student Art Exhibition Showcases Campus Talent
by Shumaila Bhatti
The Wilson College Department of Fine Arts and Dance organized the Juried Student Art Exhibition 2013 which was held in the Bogigian Gallery from Feb. 27 – Mar. 22. The Juror for this year’s exhibition was Holly Strayer, regional artist and art educator at the Chambersburg Area Senior High School.
Bogigian Gallery Director Philip Lindsey and Chair of the Fine Arts Department Robert Dickson organized this year’s event.
“Wilson has been showing student work for decades; I don’t really know how long exactly, probably as long as there has been an art department. We average about 100 visitors to the show and feel it is an excellent opportunity for our students to share their talent and artistic voice with the community,” said Lindsey.
All mediums of art were welcome including film, photographs, sculptures, paintings and sketches. Thirty three pieces of art work were selected to be displayed in the gallery. Gemma Lowry swept the 1st and 3rd prize. Amanda Stup ‘14 won the 2nd prize and got honorable mention in the other. Ashley Yealey ‘15 and Chelsey Smentkowski ‘13 also got the honorable mention.
Lowry believes shows help students with their art.
“These art expos are very important as they boost the confidence of students so that they are able to present their work and be open to critique so they may become better at what they do,” said Lowry.
The exhibit was modeled after the famous salons of nineteenth century Paris, when the French government organized official exhibits which were juried by respected artist and academics. These exhibits were of great importance as in that time it was the only way for artists to present their work in public. All submitted work was displayed and rejected works were displayed in the salon des refusés in the exhibition so that the public may decide the place.