Students display work, receive scholarships

Students, faculty and family gathered in the
Lightwell Gallery to view students work.
Photo by: Ana Victoria Lastra

            University of Oklahoma art students revealed their semester’s work to the world Sunday.

            The School of Art and Art History’s 2011 capstone exhibition “Welcome to the Real World” opened its doors to dozens of spectators waiting to see the work of the school’s 56 seniors.

            The 10th annual capstone exhibition also hosted an award ceremony in which 36 scholarships were given out. Mary Jo Watson, director of the school, emceed the event.

            “It really makes me feel proud walking through the exhibits – both the vis comm [visual communications] downstairs and the art here in the Lightwell [Gallery] – because these exhibits provide an example of the depth of the creativity that we have in the art school,” Watson said to open her speech.

            Art history senior Brynnan Light, studio senior Jenna Kriegel, visual communications senior Stephanie Daniel, and media senior Sarah Engel each received Capshaw awards, a faculty-voted honor as the top graduate in their respective areas.

            Kriegel said she was grateful for the award and the money, but felt strange to be attending the event for the last time as a student.

            Awards were also given to students Mick Tresemer, Katie Baker, and Erin Shaw for their works in the college’s 97th Annual Student Exhibition earlier this spring. Tresemer’s “Watchin’ Mountains Watchin’ Me,” Baker’s “Cycle of Life,” and Shaw’s “Not By Bread Alone” were purchased by OU’s National Weather Center.

            Before presenting two awards, deputy director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Gail Anderson announced the 98th Annual Student Exhibition will return to the museum next spring after the National Weather Center hosted this year’s event.

            School of Art and History professor Sohail Shehada, who had four contributing students to “Welcome to the Real World,” said he was impressed with the gallery. “It’s great. Great turnout and the artwork is really strong. You see figurative, abstract, representational, photography – all kinds actually. A variety of styles and mediums,” he said.

The "Welcome to the Real World" exhibit featured students work
in photography, sculpture and paintings in the Lightwell Gallery.
Photo by: Ana Victoria Lastra

            Visual communications senior Lisa Phan said she was happy with the finished product as well and that seeing it all together was “crazy.”

            “There’s been a good turnout, we didn’t think that a lot of people were going to come out because of the rain,” Phan said, “but obviously there’s a lot of friends and family and everybody’s been really impressed with all the seniors’ work, so it’s exciting.”

            For many, the work represented dates back much further than the spring semester, Phan said. All 18 visual communications displays group four to five pieces selected from their three-year span in the college, she said.

            “I would come here at 5 [p.m.], work all the way until the morning, leave at 7 [a.m.], go home and shower and then go to sleep for four hours, then wake up and come straight back to class again,” Phan said of her time in visual communications.

            Visual communications senior Byron Towles said he is excited about his contribution, a collector’s edition album compilation of one of his favorite bands.

            “Basically what it’s for is for the fanatic Roots fan such as myself or anybody else to go out and buy this collector’s edition album ... Everything you could possibly want that’s The Roots is in that,” he said.

            Towles said he plans on speaking with the band about the project after graduation.

            The exhibition, located in the Lightwell Gallery and room 103 of the Fred Jones Art Center, will stay up through May 13.

Written by: David Tyler Dunn