Digital collages, a marionette puppet adorned in feathers hanging from the ceiling and a ceramic bust of a vampire are just a few of the sights to see in the annual student exhibition in the Art Gallery.
“It is a huge event that takes months to prepare for,” Art Gallery curator, Susana Meiers said. “The instructors have to take the time to select the work and the students have to prepare the work to be framed and hung as well as making stands for their work.”
The Art Gallery hosts about six shows per year, but this specific show is the only one presenting student work. Usually held at the end of May, it showcases the best work from students from the fine arts department, Meiers said. Students will have the opportunity to present their art work during the gallery reception and art department open house tomorrow night from 6 to 9 p.m., Meiers said.
“This year happens to be one the most outstanding years that we have had,” Art Gallery curator Susana Meiers said. “I am extremely proud to be a part of this.”
The students and their artwork are selected by the individual instructors in the department and each instructor is given two submissions per studio class, Edward Won, 24, graphic design major said. There will be approximately 200 pieces of artwork in the show, with well over 100 students being showcased, Won said.
The first piece of artwork seen upon entering the Art Gallery is the Haiti poster project, which is a compilation of 12 medium sized posters advertising for relief in Haiti, Meiers said.
“We felt that this specific project and the students involved needed to be the first thing seen by the visitors,” Meiers said. “Graphic Design instructor Andrea Micallef and her students worked extremely hard on this piece and it really sends out a strong message.”
Web design major Evan Yabu, 29, is one of the 12 students who participated in the Haiti project.
“Micallef wanted us to build something inspirational for the Haiti relief,” Yabu said. “I took the symbol of ‘aid’, which is a cross, and recreated the text of Haiti by having lots of little crosses spelling it out. Basically I wanted the theme to be more about how every little bit of aid can help reform the devastated country.”
Deceny Jones, 19, art history major said she was impressed with all of the different types of art exhibited.
“There are so many different artists with different styles,” Jones said. “It’s cool to see how they have incorporated it all together. It shows the movement of life and people’s different ideas popping out in different areas.”
Heather Anacker, 24, studio art major, was featured in the student art show last year as part of a group project, she said, and is happy to have more than one piece in the show this year because it is her last semester at EC.
A class project titled “Portraits and Patterns” features 12 different student’s take on the project, including Anacker’s. They incorporated a self portrait with various color schemes and a patterned background, which covers almost an entire wall of the Art Gallery.
“It wasn’t that hard to do, but it was just time consuming because I’m not too familiar with Adobe Illustrator. I used the letter H as my background pattern, since it’s the letter of my name,” Anacker said.
Her other works are a self portrait done with oil on panel titled “Self Portrait in Red” and a hand built ceramic collection titled “Offerings To The Vegan Goddess (For Erin).”
All of the construction going on around campus, has made it difficult to get the word out about this year’s student show. Especially since the walkway near the Art Gallery is blocked off, Meiers said.
“Advertising for this event hasn’t been going as we planned,” Meiers said. “I hope that people spread the word and invite friends and family to join us tomorrow to see what a spectacular art department we have. Both faculty and students.”