June 15, 2011

Whether it’s an acrylic painting, conte drawing, digital photograph or drum set created out of pots and pans, the ninth annual Juried Art show, hosted by the Durham College School of Media, Art & Design (MAD), allows students and faculty to see the huge amount of talent housed within the college’s Foundations in Art and Design (FAD) program each spring.

Beginning in the halls of the Oshawa campus on April 12, the show ran until April 22 with FAD students given the opportunity to showcase their best work over the course of the last year.

Art professionals including James Campbell, director of the Visual Arts Centre in Bowmanville, Ont., and Charlotte Hale, associate dean of the School of MAD, were both invited to act as jurors, assessing student work on campus and selecting pieces to be displayed at the Station Gallery in Whitby, Ont. during the month of May.

Students also received awards including faculty and best in show awards; the dean’s award; the right-brain award; the left-brain award; and a $500 purchase prize, which was awarded to Dylan Hone. The purchase prize is sponsored by the School of MAD, which chooses a piece to purchase and display in its office the following academic year.

“All of the work in the show comes directly out of classroom exercises,” said Sean McQuay, FAD program co-ordinator.  “Students are allowed to put additional pieces on display if their work is chosen for the gallery with the juror’s selecting pieces completed in the classroom.”

The Station Gallery provides the space required for students to show their selected pieces. Students whose work is selected are then able to submit up to three additional pieces of work completed in class or on their own time.

“Year by year it’s always an invigorating experience to see the conceptual development of our young artists at Durham College,” said Olexander Wlasenko, curator, Station Gallery. “The Station Gallery continues to look for ways to connect younger artists to their peers and other like-minded individuals.”

For the majority of students the opportunity to show their work at a public gallery is not only an honour but a great way to get their name out into the art world.  They have the option of selling their work or listing it as not for sale. No matter what they decide, the chance to show in a gallery can open up tremendous opportunities.

“This is a very important show,” added McQuay. “This is the next step for an artist since it’s a show in a public gallery that anybody and everybody can see. It’s very exciting for us.”