Alec Schaffer
aschaff3@uwyo.edu
From starting to draw at an early age to getting a piece into the 41st annual Juried Art Show, Madison Cooley, sophomore studying art and graphic design, has achieved one of her goals as an art student.
“This is pretty much what every art student works all year for,” Cooley said. “Out of the three I submitted one got in, an ink drawing”
Every spring semester the University of Wyoming hosts the annual student juried exhibition.
“It’s a way to celebrate creative works by students here at UW,” Susan Moldenhauer, director and chief curator for the UW art museum, said.
Each year someone from out of state is selected to judge the artwork at the exhibition, issue awards and give a statement. This year’s exhibition will be judged by Dan Mills, artist and director of Bates College Museum of Art. Mills will be selecting artwork from the exhibition in addition to making an award selection.
Mills is also responsible for the selection of works that will be shown in the exhibition. Out of 63 students and 170 works only 49 students and 72 works were selected for the Juried Art Show.
“I think is a great honor to be selected,” Moldenhauer said.
This event is open to all enrolled UW students and to all in-state students enrolled through Wyoming Outreach.
“It’s a neat thing to get to do an art exhibition. It looks good on a resume,” Cooley said. “Yeah, I am nervous.”
The exhibition will also provide a chance for UW offices and departments to purchase the students artwork. All of the funds from the purchased art will go directly to the artist.
Moldenhauer said in addition to purchased works, cash awards will be granted in order to recognize excellence and that these cash awards primarily come from donations.
The awards for purchased works and accomplishments will be announced during the opening reception on Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. The reception will be held at the UW Art Museum in the Boyne south one and two galleries. The exhibition will be open from Feb. 12-Mar. 19, with a student walk through on Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m.
The exhibition was arranged by the UW Student Art League to be presented in conjunction with the 21st annual Salon Des Refuses, which is an event designed to showcase alternative works that were not selected for juried art show. This exhibition is currently on display in the visual arts center and will be up until Feb. 12.
The idea of Salon Des Refuses comes from artists such as Manet, Cezanne and Picasso and was originally meant as an alternative exhibition for artwork that was not permitted in the galleries of the time.
“We try to make it a state wide exhibition,” Moldenhauer said.
The 41st Juried Exhibition and 21st annual Salon Des Refuses are open to the public to attend.
“I went last year, I was very impressed by the talent of the artist,” Austin Hoover, UW senior studying economics, said. “I look forward to seeing the show this year. I imagine it will be very impressive again.”
