by Esther Brown | Staff Writer
The senior art students are counting down the weeks until the annual senior art exhibition. The exhibit is composed of around 12-15 works from the senior art students and planned out by the students themselves.
Senior art students are required to take the Senior Art Exhibition class, where they plan the exhibit and complete original artworks. However, preparation for the exhibit really begins junior year during the Junior Exhibition Project course. During this, students experience all the steps necessary to organize and install a group exhibition of artworks. The fall of their senior year, art students take a Seminar class where they explore creating pieces that are completely self-directed.
Lance Sinnema, the classes’ professor, is responsible for guiding and facilitating the process. Although the students work as “their own jurors,” the professor has an administrative role and some oversight when it comes to certain decisions, said Sinnema.
This year’s class is composed more heavily of graphic design majors.
“It’s interesting how they [graphic design majors] approach the exhibit, because graphic design isn’t typically shown in a gallery space, so we challenge them to think about how they can present their work,” said Sinnema.
Some of the graphic design students will be using a projector or TV screen to create interaction with the viewer.
Students submit one or two pieces for the exhibition. Jordan Seierson, a graphic design major, is working on a book of typographic compositions.
“I have always been really interested in typography, but I’ve never really had the opportunity to explore it,” said Seierson. “I wanted to take this opportunity to solely focus on typography and see where it will go.”
Melissa Jones, a 3D art major, and Hannah Pomante, a 2D art major, are collaborating on a piece that combines printmaking and reusing cardboard. The work will be a hanging city structure with plants coming out of it. Its concept is based off of Washington and how buildings have taken over nature and the native plant life, said Jones.
This year the Senior Art Exhibition class is composed of 12 students and the pieces that are set to display are all unique and different.
“I feel like the goal as a whole is to display how far we’ve come in the skills we’ve developed here at Whitworth and to show the community that we are professional artists,” said Jones.
The opening reception of the exhibit will be on April 9 at 5 p.m. The exhibition will run until May 18, and the closing reception will be that day at 11 a.m.