ROCK SPRINGS — Western Wyoming Community College will open its end-of-the-semester art exhibit , ‘Variables’, the Art Students’ Show, on Friday, May 2. The exhibit will highlight students’ spring semester works in such media as painting, drawing, 3D design, and photography.
The exhibit will open with an artists’ reception in the Gallery from 4:30 – 7 p.m. in the Gallery, with a ceramics sale in the adjacent foyer. This event is free and open to the public. ‘Variables’ runs through Aug. 20, 2014.
Western displays student works from credit coursework at the end of each semester. This semester’s show includes works from: Drawing II, Design: Color and Painting II classes, under the instruction of Professor of Art Florence McEwin; Ceramic coursework at all levels and Design 3D classes, taught by Instructor Bart Fetz; and Photo I and Photo II Workshop images, from the students of Photographer Paul Ng. Also included in the exhibit, is the collagraphic imagery created by students in the spring workshop that was hosted by Western and instructed by University of Wyoming Professor of Printmaking Mark Ritchie.
The collagraphic print is a construction on a thin substrate of board, that is then inked and run through the press with a dampened sheet of paper. The image is both embossed and printed simultaneously. Thirteen students participated and were quite successful in developing their collagraphic imagery. Many of these works will be displayed in the show.
Ceramics students participated in a wood firing as well as in gas reduction firings for their work. The wood firing is a more hands-on, participatory event for the students, as the kiln must continually be fed with wood. The process yields almost metallic-like surfaces, with a heightened sense of transparency in some instances and warm hues on unglazed, exposed clay surfaces in others.
“The spring semester art students’ show exhibits the beginning of students’ color use and more advanced foundation experiences, so it’s an exciting exhibition of student efforts,” said Prof. McEwin, who is the Art Gallery Director.
The May 2 reception will conclude with the Art Purchase Award announcement, the selection for which will be made by Western President Dr. Karla Leach from among the student works displayed. This is the third semester that the award has been made. The selected work will be exhibited in the President’s office.
“I look forward each spring to attending the students’ art show and seeing the many beautiful and innovative works they have created as part of their Visual Arts coursework,” Dr. Leach said. “It is a privilege to be able to select one of these students as the recipient of the Art Purchase Award, but selecting only one artwork from the many outstanding pieces on display is never an easy task. Western is fortunate to have so many talented and hard-working student artists on our campus.”
The May 2 reception for ‘Variables’ is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Gallery Director Florence McEwin at Western Wyoming Community College at (307) 382-1723.
-From a WWCC press release
