Parkland College Art and Design Student Juried Exhibition

[Image Information: William Smith, Still Life, oil on canvas, 20” x 16", 2015, from Painting 1]

Parkland College’s 2016 Art and Design Student Juried Exhibition will be held April 11–30 in the Giertz Gallery.

Audiences will enjoy an impressive body of student work in photography, painting, drawing, metals, sculpture, three-dimensional design, two-dimensional design, color theory, and ceramics. For this exhibit, Parkland Art and Design faculty selected approximately 180 works from more than 350 entries. Students taking art classes since summer 2015 were eligible to submit artwork.

Many of the works on display have earned artistic awards, which will be announced during the exhibit’s opening reception Thursday, April 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the gallery lounge. The Parkland Guitar Ensemble will provide music.

Joan Stolz, a painting and drawing instructor, joins many faculty and students looking forward to this exhibit each spring. “It’s my favorite show of the year,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for us as instructors to see what our students have been making in classes other than our own.”

The student art exhibition allows budding professional artists to showcase their extensive talent and the exploration processes they have experienced in Parkland Art and Design courses, explained Giertz Gallery Director Lisa Costello.

“This show introduces them to professional practices they will encounter in their field, such as working with a gallery, preparing their work for exhibition, and engaging in the jurying process that is essential for an emerging artist,” Costello said. “That kind of experience is necessary for resume building and establishing themselves as practicing artists after graduation or transfer to a four-year college.”

During the reception, the 6:30 p.m. awards ceremony will recognize artwork of merit. Student artists will receive monetary awards including the Parkland President Award, the David M. and Shirley A. Jones Student Art Award, the Metals Award for Jewelry/Metalsmithing, the Fine and Applied Arts Chair Award, the Parkland Art and Design Faculty Award, and the Blair Kling Memorial Art Award. In addition, one student will receive the Art Coop Award for Sustained Studio Excellence, which allows students to purchase art supplies.

Several Art and Design scholarships also will be announced during the reception, including the Don Lake Art Scholarship, the Underwood-Alger Scholarship, and the Robert Ralph Ford Memorial Art Scholarship. Finally, the winner of the acclaimed Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts Scholarship will be announced.

Merit awardees, scholarship recipients, and certificate winners retain possession of their work. Works receiving Purchase Awards become part of the Parkland College Student Art Collection.

All events in the handicapped-accessible gallery are free and open to the public. Regular gallery hours are Monday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–7 p.m., and Saturday, noon–2 p.m.

To find the gallery when classes are in session, we suggest using the M6 parking lot on the north corner of the campus. Enter through door X7, turn left, and follow the ramps uphill to the highest point on the first floor, where the gallery is located. The gallery windows overlook the outdoor fountain area. This exhibit is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. For more information, call Costello at 217/351-2485 or visit www.parkland.edu/gallery.