Juried Student Exhibition 2015 - University of Southern Indiana

Spring 2015

45th Annual Juried Student Art Show
March 29 - May 3, 2015

The 45th Annual USI Juried Student Art Exhibition is on display March 29 - May 3, 2015 in the McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries at USI. Matthew Neil Gehring, a special juror in honor of USI's 50th Anniversary, selected the artworks for the exhibit. He is an Evansville native who graduated from North High School and USI, (BS, Art, 1998). He currently is the Chair of the Visual Arts Department and Director of the Flecker Gallery at SUNY Suffolk, Long Island, New York. He chose 148 works of art created by USI art students in the past year from the 445 submitted for the show jurying.

Over $9,000 in merit awards, scholarships and purchase awards, generously donated by area businesses and individuals, were announced at a free public reception for the artists on from 2 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 29. Fifty-one awards were given. Please see the list of award winners below. USI students, faculty, staff and community members are cordially invited to view the exhibition.

The McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries hours are Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. It is located in the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center on the USI campus.

Merit Awards
Best of Show $750	Ryan McKain Grandma's Little Nightmare Plaster, foam, wood	Ceramics Merit Award $200	Paige Knowles Spring High-fired stoneware
Drawing Merit Award $200	Jessica Cook Faded Rainbowz Pastel on paper	Graphic Design Merit Award $200	Erin Hicks Design Culture Now Lecture Poster Series Digital print
Illustration Merit Award $200	Charis Law Nonconforming Swarm Mixed media on canvas	Interactive Media Merit Award $200	Shelby Bruick External Beauty Single channel video
Jewelry Merit Award $200	Kelsey Allison Skeleton Chic Recycled tin, chain, metal charms	Painting Merit Award $200	Tanna Carman Small I am Bigger Than Acrylic on canvas
Photography Merit Award $200	Melinda Scott Stained Glass Inkjet print	Printmaking Merit Award $200	Evan Boyer Lost Love or Love Lost Lithograph
Sculpture Merit Award $200	Matthew Perez Giraffes are Pretentious, They Always Look Down on Us Wire, steel, yarn	3D Printed Design Merit Award $200	Matthew Koewler Cubical Confinement Chess Set Design 3D printed PLA
Woodworking Merit Award $200	Alex Greer The Chair of All Chairs Repurposed chair parts	Degreed Student Merit Award $200	Jennifer Niswonger The Surgeon Oil on canvas
Senior Merit Award $150	Lacey Wolford Grandma Kill Oil on canvas	Junior Merit Award $150	Ryan McKain His Determination Acrylic on canvas
Sophomore Merit Award $150	Christian Smith Live Cut Walnut Table #1 Walnut, cherry, white oak	Freshman Merit Award $150	Bryan Nelson ForUSt Creek Farm Acrylic on board
Art Club Member Award $150	Rachel Burianek In Plain Sight Graphite on paper	Stephen Herron '81 Memorial Award $180	Eva Zollars The Jewelry Thief Mixed media
Merit Award $125	Paige Knowles Rooster Ferric chloride raku-fired stoneware	Merit Award $125	Kelcie Davis Move On Clay
Merit Award $100	Ashley Hamilton Indigenous Mask Acrylic on canvas	Merit Award $100	Lacey Wolford Reality Oil on canvas
Merit Award $100	Megan Elleser Are We Naturally Passive Aggressive? Pine, n scale miniatures, inkjet prints, chalkboard paint	Merit Award $100	Adam Rakestraw Tower of Aristocracy Wood, metal, spray paint, enamel, U.S. dollar
Merit Award $100	Janelle Howell 52-inch Wrench Charcoal on paper	Merit Award $100	Kelcie Davis A Little Bit Charcoal on paper
Merit Award $100	Tylie Robertson Katherine Batik	Merit Award $100	Michael Miller Handicap Clay
Scholarship Awards
Junior Scholarship $500	Vincent Cullison Under Dust Charcoal drawing	Sophomore/Junior Ceramics Scholarship $500	Matthew Wargel Insomnia High fired stoneware, willow wood
Sophomore Scholarship $500	Alec Huff Life After Death Wood, rice paper, plastic jaw bone, sand, candles	John W. McNaughton Award for Excellence in Woodworking $500	Adam Rakestraw Body of Work
Excellence in Graphic Design Scholarship $500	Amanda N. Morrison Body of Work	James W. Parrent '77 Memorial Freshman Scholarship $500	Bryan Nelson Transformation Through Doubt Mixed media
Purchase Awards
Purchase Award $600	Adam Rakestraw Tao Loi Gong Wood, metal, acrylic, polyurethane	Dean's Purchase Award $300	Debra Pellant Micro-Metamorphosed Mammals Carpenter graphite pencils
Purchase Award $300	Jessica Steenbergen Tugboat Ink jet paper	Purchase Award $250	Rachel Burianek In Plain Sight Graphite on paper
Purchase Award $150	Kyra Schmidt The Self Ink jet print	Purchase Award $100	Alex Greer Personality #7 Charcoal on paper
Purchase Award $75	Brakston Farrar Spring Awakening poster Digital print	Purchase Award $75	Matt Wargel Inferno Wood-fired stoneware
Purchase Award $40	Amanda Morrison Bodoni: A Modern Romantic Digital printed book
Academic Achievement Awards
Academic Achievement Award in Graphic Design $50	Amanda Morrison	Academic Achievement Award in Interactive Media $50	Amanda Brinkman
Academic Achievement Award in Illustration $50	Zachary Wehner	Academic Achievement Award in Art Education $50	Tylie Robertson
Academic Achievement Award in 2D Studio Art $50	Lacey Wolford	Academic Achievement Award in 3D Studio Art $50	John Roy Litwiler
Academic Achievement Award in Art History $50	John Roy Litwiler

About the Juror

Matthew Gehring attended USI on a Society for Arts and Humanities Scholarship, earning a bachelor’s degree in studio art in 1998. He participated in the Skidmore College Summer Program and the University of Delaware Master of Fine Arts Program on a full graduate assistantship. After completing his graduate degree in 2001, he relocated to the Northern California coast, teaching sculpture at Humboldt State University. In 2003, he accepted a faculty position in the Art Department at Syracuse University. In 2007, he relocated to Brooklyn, New York, where he currently lives and maintains an active studio practice and exhibition schedule.

He has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions, including recent one-person shows at the Dishman Art Museum at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and at the Islip Art Museum in East Islip, New York. Gehring's recent group exhibitions include Abstraction and its Discontents, Eight Painters and Family Style, all in New York.

His work has been featured or reviewed in publications including The New Criterion, Art Journal, Art Review and ArtWeek. He is currently an associate professor of visual art at SUNY Suffolk where he is head of Visual Art and the director of the Flecker Gallery.

Read Gehring's Juror's Statement.