On Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 the UW-La Crosse Art Gallery debuted their first installment of the spring semester, The All-Student Juried Exhibition. The exhibition was open for all UW-L students to submit their best work. After students submitted their work a team of jurors from around the art community deliberated and decided which pieces made it into the exhibition. 57 students submitted a total of 128 works; in the end, only 60 works of art were chosen, representing 41 individuals.

A lot of planning and proactive thinking went into the creation of this Exhibition. John Ready is in charge of the different installations that fill the gallery. Ready elaborated on his role in organizing, “I facilitated the visiting artists/jurors, facilitated the awards and ceremony, designed the installation and installed it.”  Ready also said that two student assistants, Caleb Irish and Lillian Myhre helped set up the exhibition.

The exhibition showcased many different student art pieces. Ready commented on the wide range of styles, “Paintings, prints, metalwork, sculptures, photography, graphic design, ceramics, textile work, etc. The public should expect to see a high-quality exhibition of student artwork.”

The jurors were an essential and unique aspect of this particular exhibition. This event brought two jurors to UW-L to handpick pieces of student art. One juror, Jon Swanson, came from the Minnesota Marine Art Museum where he is the current curator. The other juror, Heather Delisle, is a professor at UW-River Falls. These judges narrowed down the 128 works of art to just 60, “Decisions were based on concept, facility with materials and quality of execution.” Ready explained.

The exhibition encouraged UW-L students to immerse themselves in artwork. UW-L Senior Colton Weber went to check out the exhibition and had this to say about their highlights, “A lot of the artwork was impressive, but Grant Sachs’ print stood out to me.’ Weber describes, “The entire piece flows together. It is hard to tell where one thing ends and the other begins.” Sachs’ piece is a photographic print titled, “The Wanaka Tree.”

The exhibition was also an outlet for UW-L students to express their creativity and cope with life’s challenges. UW-L student Lauren Follansbee had their artwork featured in the exhibition, “My piece, Sojourner, uses both a relief roll method and an a la poupee wiping method on my intaglio plate.”

Follansbee elaborates on the inspiration for her piece, “The content of Sojourner originates from the interchanging feelings of anxiety and excitement that I’ve felt towards graduating this semester.”

Be sure to support other great pieces like Follansbee and Sachs’ at the All-Student Juried Exhibition; located in the UW-L art gallery on the first floor of the Center for the Arts. The exhibition runs through Friday, March 10. Regular gallery hours are 12pm to 8pm Monday’s through Thursdays, and 12pm to 5pm Fridays and Saturdays.

For more information contact [email protected].