This past Thursday, Gustavus’ 18 senior studio art majors hosted an exhibition of their works, titled “Advance Screening: Mid-Year Senior Art Show,” in the Schaefer Art Gallery located in the Fine Arts building. This show preceded their final show, which is set to take place in early May 2010.
The show consisted of works from all of this year’s senior studio art majors. Each student chose two to seven pieces, both finished and unfinished, to display. Because the number of studio art majors this year is nearly double that of previous years, the pieces filled the entire gallery.
This exhibition, unlike the final show, was meant to show the process each artist goes through upon undertaking a project. Senior Art Studio Major Kristina Kelly, whose art was featured in the show, knows this process well. “Making art is much like writing a paper. There is research, an outline, a rough draft and much editing,” Kelly said.
Fellow Senior Art Studio and Biology Major Kate Wiedman also described the show as a “teaser,” insisting it was meant to pique the viewer’s interest in the projects and thus encourage them to attend the final showing in May.
The show also proved largely beneficial to the artists themselves. Displaying unfinished works showed the progress that each artist has made so far and allowed for friendly critiquing. “It helped us prepare for the final show and also get feedback,” Senior Art Studio Major Amanda Skarphol said.
If you missed the mid-year showing, you will have yet another chance to see the works of these seniors in the spring. The pieces that were shown on Thursday will be on display again as finished products on May 1, 2010 in the Hillstrom Museum of Art. “Unfinished works show a piece in action,” Senior Japanese Studies and Art Studio Major Caitlin Peterson said. Peterson says that she herself will continue to work on her own unfinished painting for the final show.
So why should students attend the show in May? “Well, there will be good food!” Peterson said. In addition to these incentives, students will be able to see the “best of the best” of our own Gustie artists. It will also give the artists themselves a chance to display their works on campus for one last time. “It will showcase everything we’ve learned here,” Skarphol said.
In the Feb 19 issue of The Gustavian Weekly, the article “Senior art sudio majors host mid-year exhibit” failed to mention that the works in the mid-year exhibition are not necessarily the ones that will appear in the final exhibition in the spring. All works go through a jury process, and the mid-year exhibition was meant to be a sneak peek into the art making process. The Weekly regrets the error.