Each year, students at SSU enter their artwork into the running so a panel of judges can display them in the annual Juried Student Exhibition. Out of the many submissions, judges chose nearly 35 of them. Opened since March 29, the month-long exhibition houses original photographs, paintings, sculptures and unique, non traditional pieces. 

“The exhibit was great! I had never been to one of the art exhibits on campus,” said junior Molly Butler. Each piece is unique and ranges from photographs and paintings to recycled materials transformed into clothing items. A culmination of artwork that students have created throughout the semester, or on their own time, the judged pieces carry growth and understanding visible through chosen techniques. “We need to spread the word about these types of things so more people know about them,” Butler said. 

 “White Noise,” a partial self-portrait by junior Emma Wason, depicts a girl whose face has deliberately missing features. Taking 15 hours to complete, “the face is replaced with a space of what can be interpreted as white noise on a television, or a computer error screen to convey a sense of blankness or inability to compute,” Wason said. 

This year the jurors were not only professionals, as they are every year, but local. Carlo Ricafort, an artist from Oakland, CA, and Kara Q. Smith, who is the Assistant Curator at the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art in Napa, helped curate and constructively critique the exhibition. With the constant professional feedback, graduates whose art the juriors feature in this exhibit often go on to prestigious graduate programs and other careers in the art world. 

The exhibit will continue until April 22 in the University Art Gallery. Hours  are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday-Friday, and noon-4 p.m. on weekends.