Student Artists Delight in Annual Student Art Exhibition
“Overlapping Celebration” by Marren Lawrence. (Photo by Heather Hopkins | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
May 1, 2023
Now on view in the Art Department’s Alvin Gittins Gallery is the University of Utah’s Annual Student Art Exhibition.
A Bouquet of Technique Mixed with Heart
As spring begrudgingly emerges from our relentless winter, the talented U students offer a display even more welcome than spring blossoms. From their respective brushes, pottery wheels, printing presses and work benches has blossomed a bouquet of technique mixed with heart. The Art Department’s Annual Student Exhibition is curated this year by the UMFA’s own associate curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Emily Lawhead.
Lawhead joined the UMFA staff after completing her PhD in History of Art and Architecture from the University of Oregon in 2022. As the UMFA is affiliated with the U, this collaboration is the latest manifestation of the two institution’s shared support for the arts.
Diverse Mediums and Perspectives
Nestled in the art building is a university staple, the Alvin Gittins Gallery. The cozy space that has been showcasing student creations for decades welcomes its latest batch of promising artists to present their work. With no medium left behind, this year’s exhibitions displays work in the form of painting, ceramic, sculpture, illustration, printmaking and bookmaking. The exhibition intermingles these mediums throughout the space. This method of display allows each corner of the gallery to be representative of the diverse perspectives of the U’s student body.
When entering an art exhibition, one typically goes in knowing a theme that gives them an initial perspective — a lens through which they view the works. For instance, if you go to the UMFA right now you would be remiss to pass up the “Many Wests” temporary show. Without any other information, museum-goers at least have the perspective that the works in this show will be examining notions of the West. This kind of framing for art exhibitions can be unifying and helpful in examining the varying ways in which artists view a similar topic, though this Student Exhibition alerts viewers to the good that can come without thematic limitations.
Stories Deserving to be Told
While the name Annual Student Art Exhibition leaves something to be desired in the way of creativity, it is an apt descriptor of the show. Rather than selecting works based on a shared idea held by many individuals, the works allow individuality to be the shared idea. At each pivot in the show, viewers are met with a new story. One story told in frantic brush strokes, one in deliberate ink marks and another through unpredictable texture.
The emotions the works evoke in the viewer are as varied as the mediums. Yet, there is something unifying in the shared humanity in each. Perhaps one will see their mother’s knowing gaze in Eileen Johnston’s “Self Portrait from Life,” only to turn the corner to be transmitted back to a memory of the first time they heard a symphony with “The Violin” by Kathy Castleton. Or perhaps two strangers sidle up to Rebecca (Becky) Weber’s “Treading Water” and share an unspoken moment of connection even though one is looking at the work and remembering pain, while the other sees it as an anthem of hope.
A small student showcase in a university gallery offers a big message, each of our stories is deserving of being told. And in this telling lies limitless possibilities.
