Students compete at 46th Juried Art Exhibit

Shippensburg University’s Art and Design Department hosted its 46th Annual SU Juried Student Art Exhibition at the Kauffman Gallery on Saturday April 27. The awards were presented at 1:30 p.m. The event showcased 29 students and 50 pieces. 

The items in the exhibit were selected and juried by two judges outside of the SU community. This year, the judges were B.A. Harrington and Beth Wheeler from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Harrington is an associate professor of art and director of the Wood Center at IUP. Wheeler is a founding member of the Fox Clark gallery in Indiana, Pennslvania. She earned a master of fine arts degree in painting from IUP. 

Harrington and Wheeler both expressed their delight to jury the exhibit this year in their judge’s statements. “It was an honor to be asked to judge the 2024 SU Annual Student Art Exhibition,” Harrington said. “I was especially impressed with the care students showed in the display of their artwork.” 

SU undergraduate students were allowed to submit up to five pieces of their work for the competition. There was an exceptional number of submissions, but the judges only chose 50 pieces for the exhibit and 11 award winners. 

The awards included Honorable Mention, Mixed Media Merit, 3D Media Merit, 2D Media Merit, the William D. Davis Memorial Drawing Award, Third place, Second place and Best of the Exhibit. The cash prizes were sponsored by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, Minds@Work, Mrs. Shirley Sturtz-Davis and the SU President Charles Patterson. 

Professor Michael Campbell, director of the Kauffman Gallery, announced the winners alongside fellow professors, William Whitely and Steve Dolbin.  

The first awards presented were Honorable Mention. The winners included Naomi Bard for “Untitled,” Dylan Hiestand for “Skull Snail,” Kelsey Krainaker for “Metal Beam” and The Slate’s very-own Elizabeth Peters for her ceramic duo “Beauty Standards” and “Perfectionist.”

Following the Honorable Mention awards were the Merit awards. The winners were Kia O’Quinn for “Domesticated,” Jessica Silverman for “Untitled” and Caitlin Weller for “Blush.” 

The next award presented was the William D. Davis Memorial Drawing Award, which is in honor of former assistant professor of art at Shippensburg University, William Davis. The winner was Hailey Yeater’s “Still Life,” a pastels and charcoal drawing. 

The third and second place awards were announced next. Jalen Brownson won third place for his graphic illustration titled “If You’re Willing to Take the Time.” Sharon Coons won second place for her ink and colored pencil drawing, “Into the Woods.” 

The Best of the Exhibit award was delivered and sponsored by Patterson. It was awarded to Colby Page for his steel sculpture, “Pharmaceutical.” Page was one of six artists to display more than three of their submissions to the judges. 

The semester’s exhibits at the Kauffman Gallery have now come to an end. To visit this final exhibit and admire over 29 students’ artworks, visit the Huber Art Center till May 8. It will also be available online starting May 13.