By Lydia Hansen
Editor-in-Chief
Lydia.Hansen1961@mb.rctc.edu
Art student Rob Keller (left) and instructor Simon Huelsbeck (right) discuss setting potential prices for Kellerís paintings. ìMy art instructor says if I can produce a collection of work like this,î Keller said of the landscape painting behind him, ìIíll be ready for the galleries. (Echo photo by Lydia Hansen)
The Art Gallery closed its spring season with a set of exhibits featuring artwork by RCTC students.
The Juried Student Exhibition ran from March 12 to April 6. This exhibit happens annually and allows students who have taken art classes in the past year to enter up to three pieces of artwork. A different juror for the exhibit is selected every year.†
This year, Sheila Dickinson, interim curator of Art and Public Programs at the Rochester Art Center, juried the work. She also spoke at the opening reception of the gallery exhibit about her decision making. Awards for artistic excellence were given out at the reception.
A second exhibit, the Art + Design Student Portfolio, was fully installed on April 12 and was open for viewing during regular gallery hours until the end of the semester. This exhibit was the capstone of the Associate of Fine Arts degree.
Students taking the Art Portfolio class with Brian Steele had a variety of their pieces displayed in this exhibit. These were students who had created a body of work through successive art classes. The exhibit gave them an opportunity to showcase their artistic portfolios before transferring to a four-year institution or submitting work for grants or other art exhibitions.
This year, the featured art portfolios ranged from a series of oil on canvas paintings by Rob Keller and photographs by Mikail Ellanson and Shelby Bailey to pencil drawings by Madelyn Bendickson, ink drawings by Elizabeth Schams and digitally designed coloring pages by Katrina Doolittle.
At the student reception on April 19, Doolittleís coloring pages were a big hit. Visitors created their own art with pencils, markers and crayons and displayed them on the wall.†
Rob Keller said the exhibit was an opportunity for the featured students to get their work out in the public eye, noting that two people came up to him during the reception to ask how much he would charge for some of his paintings. He felt this demonstrated how his artistic abilities have developed.