ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR – SOPHIA KUSSEL
ORIGINALLY PRINTED ON FEB 2, 2023
Many St. Mary’s students may have noticed a small gallery popping up from time to time; residing on the second floor of the Blume Library, patiently waiting each spring semester for the occasional passerby. What many students don’t know is that the Student Exhibit has been a long-standing tradition, spanning over three long decades.
According to the Head of the Art Department, Dr. Brian St. John, “The exhibit is a showcase of examples of what was produced in our studio art courses during the semester with selections made by faculty in the art department.” Courses such as: photography, drawing, color theory, design fundamentals, painting, sculpture, concepts in visual art, printmaking, and even the First Year Experience Semester course all have specific pieces chosen to showcase in the exhibit. The Student Art Exhibit is also used to proudly commemorate students from every discipline and major— regardless of prior art experience. Their art is used as examples to the other students of what they can accomplish in their own right and might even interest students in enrolling in similar courses, perhaps even enrolling in an art minor readily offered by the university. St. Mary’s University has a long history of promoting their students’ artistic ventures. Dr. Brian St. John commented on this tradition; “We have a student exhibit at the close of each Fall and Spring semester. This has been a long-standing tradition going back over 30 years.” The exhibit gives student outside of art majors to shine in a field they may not have previously considered before taking an art course.
Dr. Brian St. John expanded on the importance of student participation, “Selections are made by faculty from the students enrolled not necessarily only art majors or minors. We hope that the students are encouraged by having their work selected, and we would have even more if we had room in the gallery. It is also important to the department as it is one of the components of our mission statement and strategic plan. Art students also have the opportunity to exhibit their work in the annual Collegiate Exhibition held by the San Antonio Art League
and Museum each Spring semester.” In a sense, any of these artists could win first place at the annual Collegiate Exhibition, giving students an opportunity to show their work to a wider audience within the community.
The art department encourages students to stop by Blume Library to peruse the many pieces; sculptures, paintings, and charcoal renderings from a diverse range of students are displayed for their peers to enjoy and learn from. Strange, abstract, and wonderful mannequin heads can be found— courtesy of the First Year Experience Semester class. Colorful observation paintings, contributed by the Painting I class. Weird and wonderful surrealistic drawings, selected from the Concepts in Visual Art and Drawing I classes. All these pieces and more can readily be found at the Student Art Exhibit—free of charge, of course.
For those interested in attending, the current exhibit began on January 17 and will continue all through February 28th. For further inquires, please contact Dr. Brian St. John at: bstjohn@stmarytx.edu.