The Contemporary Art Gallery on campus is holding the “Visual Arts + Design Senior Exhibition,” a show to display senior art students that are graduating this fall’s work.
According to Gallery Director Dale Newkirk, it is part of a senior’s requirement to graduate and will showcase areas of art such as ceramics, paintings, sculpture, photography, print making and theatre design during the exhibition that will be held from Nov. 21 until Dec. 9.
Newkirk explained what the exhibition entails for the graduating seniors presenting their artwork.
“If you’re an art major, you have to present your work for a senior review and defend your work in front of faculty, and they ask questions for about half an hour, and it is a standard list of questions,” said Newkirk. “Then they are scored on their answers and their work, and if they don’t pass that, they don’t get to go on and mount their show. If they do, then they mount their work in the gallery. They’re given a space in the gallery to put up their work so everyone that’s graduating, all the seniors graduating this semester will bein the show.”
Faculty and non-seniors should go to the exhibition for insight and to experience different types of artistic media.
“For non-seniors who are art majors, it’s important for them to see what their fellow students have accomplished in the four years that they’ve been at Southeastern to look forward to when they actually do that and kinda what they’re gonna be expected to deliver as well,” said Newkirk. “Plus it’s an opportunity to see a wide range of artistic activity. In terms of other people, it is really a great show to see the accomplishments of Southeastern students and the visual arts at the final stage of their development.”
Newkirk described how most seniors feel about going into this process, and why it is an important step for them leading up to graduation.
“They are usually very nervous, and it’s a big deal for them and for the seniors,” said Newkirk. “This show is really their moment to shine and is a culmination of their whole four years of being here. They have put a lot of work into it, and for some of them, it’s the first time they have really shown their work in a public space. So, they’re nervous and excited. And they have been working hard on it, and their parents are gonna come and their relatives and their peers. So for a lot of these kids, this is more important than graduation. I mean this is their graduation ceremony.”
Newkirk explained some of the plans seniors have lined up for after graduation.
“Some of them will be working in the field of graphic design and have already secured jobs,” said Newkirk. “Others will be working towards going to graduate school, which is usually the next step in terms of academic training if you’re in the fine arts.”
The opening reception for the “Visual Arts + Design Senior Exhibition” is scheduled to begin on Nov. 21 from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at CAG located at 100 East Stadium, on campus.
