Senior art major Jessica Warner kneels beside one of her pieces in the show, titled “Sea  pot with Sea cup.”  Warner hoped to create something to resemble an old ship. To accomplish this, she used a glaze to create barnacles at the bottom of the tea pot. 
The Lion's Roar/Karson Sharp

This past Thursday, Mar. 3, students from different areas of the art department received a chance to showcase their work. 

This opportunity was the thirteenth annual Juried Student Exhibition that displayed over 300 pieces this year. The art pieces were a diverse collection containing concepts from graphic design, sculpture, painting and the occasional interactive piece. 

Several of the students received not only a chance to show their art but also awards. Respectively, the categories and winners of the event were: best in ceramics, Bibbet Robison; best in sculpture, Jordan Hartney; best in drawing, Jacob Roig; best in new media and animation, Ira Wayne Cook; best in painting, Brianna Reeves; best of 3-D graphic design, Chelsea Penton; best in print making, Lauryn Lebouf; best in photography, Randi Major; best in foundations, Elisa Gauthreaux; best in graphic design and in typography in graphic design, Sarah Amacker; best in show, Trent Pechon. The award recipients all received gift certificates of $50 to various art suppliers along with more specific prizes depending on the award. 

Many of the winners, like Robison, provided commentary after the award ceremony.

“I’m so excited,” said Robison. “It feels good to win, because I worked very hard for this, but I’m also very grateful.”

Others who won explained inspiration for their work, such as Roig in his “Cosmic Love” piece.

“The name of the piece is ‘Cosmic Love,’” said Roig. “My inspiration behind it was same-sex relationships and the conflict that they go through and how media and society affects that. I used different colored threads to make the constellations on it: Watercolor paper, watercolor. I also used ink transfers to really put the stars and stripes look on it. It was my second attempt at watercolor. I haven’t really tried watercolor in a weave before, but it’s always an idea that’s appealed to me. The difficulty was definitely adjusting to a medium like watercolor. I haven’t dealt with it much before that. And also, I hadn’t worked much with ink transfers either, so a lot of it was just new stuff for me, very experimental through a lot of the concepts as well. So, the piece was absolutely a challenge, as I hadn’t worked much with thread, ink transfers or watercolor before.”

Refreshments were also provided at the event including coffee, punch, cubed cheese and a large assortment of fruit.

The exhibition will last until Apr. 1. The Contemporary Art Gallery is free and open to the public. For further information, visit the university’s homepage or the gallery’s Facebook page “SLU Contemporary Art Gallery.” 

Artist stand together holding their rewards for the juried exbhition show. 
The Lion's Roar/Karson Sharp