“Basically you work your tookus off ’til the show, submit, and then cross your fingers,” said junior art major Alex Lissenden. “Then the professors meet up and it’s a matter of time ’til there’s an awesome show in the Gallery.” Welcome to Guilford College’s Juried Student Art Show, where you can find everything from pig-men to puppets, cardboard chairs to stoneware creatures, the White Stripes to the Greensboro Massacre.
The exhibit opened Thursday, Oct. 30 in the Founders Gallery. It features 116 works by over 60 artists in six categories (ceramics, sculpture, drawing, painting, design, photography, and printmaking) and includes work by traditional, Early College, and Continuing Education students.
The show is an annual event open to all Guilford students. It is the Art Department’s answer to a sporting event, a theatre production, or a musical concert. In short, it is an opportunity for students to show what they can do.
“After pouring all this creative energy and time into your work, it’s a chance to bring together the community to see it,” said ceramics instructor Charlie Tefft, who co-ran the show with photography professor Maia Dery.
The show is more than just an exhibit, however. It also gives students a taste of all the work that goes into the exhibition process, as well as giving them a little something for their resumes.
“The student art show provides several important functions for Guilford College,” said senior art major Ivy McLeod. “Firstly, it’s a very easy way for anyone who walks through Founders to get a taste of the quality of art that comes from our very small college.
“Secondly, it gives faculty members an opportunity to reward a few hardworking students,” McLeod continued. “It also is a very good opportunity to eat a massive quantity of very tiny cheese cubes.”
It’s also a bit of a contest. Not all submitted works make it into the show. Of those that do, one first place and one honorable mention are chosen from each category.
“It breeds a very healthy sense of friendly competition,” said senior art major Meredith Stanfill. “It keeps people on their toes. It’s an impetus for people to get their best work out there.”
Be it the show’s competition or the artists’ creativity, the best work is certainly on display. The nearly 100 people who attended Thursday’s opening could tell you that.
So could their wallets. This was the first year artists have posted prices with their work. Prices ranged from $20 to $350. Four pieces have already sold. Not everyone, however, opted to make money.
“A vast majority of the work was not for sale,” Stanfill said. “That was interesting to me – that a lot of people just weren’t interested in selling their work.”
Whether you’re in the market to buy or just to look, the show will be on display until December, and it does not fail to impress.
“This year for me the drawings were the most incredible,” Tefft said. “But there’s something special in every category that you just see and think, ‘Wow, that’s incredible.’ And you stop and wonder, ‘Was I that creative when I was in school?’