Annual gallery sees variety of pieces

Students, faculty, staff and community members can now browse about 70 pieces of art created by students and displayed in the Warren M. Lee Center for Fine Arts.

The USD Fine Arts program hosted its 29th Annual Stilwell Juried Exhibition on Friday night. The Stilwell Juried Exhibition, USD’s main gallery for art awards, features undergraduate and graduate art. Anyone on campus can enter, and and a juror from off-campus chooses the art that is put on display.

This year’s off-campus juror was USD alumnus Larry Schuh, a professor of studio art/print making at McNeese University in Louisiana.

“It’s kind of like the Academy Awards in a way, where it’s hard to choose from all of the talent,” Schuh said. “I wish it was categorized like the Academy Awards though: best painter, print, sculpture, all separated.”

The gallery hosted multiple art mediums, including sculptures, photographs, prints, drawings and paintings.

“Schuh had to choose 70 pieces to be displayed from about 300 entrees,” Cory Knedler, the chair of the Art Department, said.

First-years to graduate students submitted art for the gallery. Pieces could’ve been from free time or from class assignments.

“It’s got to be a firm decision, you can’t be wishy washy,” Shuh said. “When I choose from all of this wonderful art, I go with my guts and let the chips fall.”

First-year art major Marina Kremer entered a sketch she had done for a design class last semester at USD.

“I really have had no experience with entering my art in galleries,” she said. “It’s really exciting and I keep asking myself, ‘Is this real?’ Because it’s so cool.”

Kremer’s drawing was a rendition of a photograph she had taken at her boyfriend’s ranch, she said.

“During class, professor Hook kept saying it looked too difficult, like there was too much detail in the photo,” she said. “He said I should have chose something else, but I had already started it so I stuck to it. I ended up with good feedback from it and got an A.”

Schuh said he admired not only the diversity of the art submitted, but also the content and ideas of the pieces.

One sculpture was purchased within the first 20 minutes of the event, and a photograph was sold before the event. Some pieces were priced up to $900. All of the art will be on display in the John A. Day Gallery until Feb. 23 and there is no admission fee.

“It makes it interesting, and is even better when people purchase the art at these galleries,” Schuh said. “Investing in your local art is a good idea. With talent like these young people have, you never know what can happen.”