Mesa Community College Second Annual Juried Art Show
Tristan Spencer
Mesa Legend
The Mesa Community College (MCC) Art Gallery is preparing for the second Annual Juried Art show. The show will begin on April 24 and will run until the end of the semester. The last day of the show will be on May 12 and will have extended hours on for graduation will be to accommodate the community to visit and view the local talents of the Mesa Community College student body.
The Art Gallery, which opened February of last year, will host this event for the second time in a row. Before the completion of the gallery, students only had the option to display their artwork in various areas throughout the campus. Locations such as Navajo Room and the MCC Library were used as temporary places to host the End of the Year Student Show.
Now for the second year the gallery will show selections for the skilled students on campus. Gingher Leyendecker, the MCC Art Department Chair, commented “Now we have a real space where they [the artists] get to feel like they’re in a real exhibition.” “Not just something we kinda temporarily set up. So we can have a space that honors the work that they do,” Leyendecker said.
Any student who has been enrolled in an art class on campus over the past year has the ability to participate in the show. The process to enter artwork into the show is simple, but requires the student to take initiative. All art students can submit, with a teacher’s signature, three pieces of work to go through a pre-screening phase wherein they will be judged. Pieces passing the first judgement stage will be taken into the art gallery and shown for the duration of the student show.
The amount of artwork shown does vary based on the amount of submissions however the 2016 Juried Show featured around 125 selections in the various categories. The show will include all the different art themes taught here on campus. Students are encouraged to submit their art in ceramics, digital work, drawing, painting, photography, 2D and 3D.
Every year the MCC Arts department invite different judges to view the artwork that is approved by the teachers here on campus, and designate the awards for each category. This year the school has invited Ms. Patty Haberman who actively serves as the Contemporary Art Curator for the Mesa Arts Center.
She will be given a strict rubric developed by the school to guarantee fairness in the contest. The job of Haberman will be to grade every piece to be presented in the show and determine the various award winners, who will receive different degrees of recognition. Category winners can receive possible monetary awards for supplies and scholarships, but all entered artist will receive the prestige of being a part of a juried exhibition.
Showing artwork here in this local show can bring a certain type of praise to an artist style. The Mesa Community College administration will also will be involved with this specific show, and will be selecting one piece of artwork. Every year one piece is selected from the show as the Presidential Purchase.
This means the school will actually purchase the artist’s piece to add the collection displayed year round in the Art Gallery. These selections are shown year around unless a new exhibition is placed on campus. If any student has any questions regarding entire into the show they are encouraged to speak with their art teacher or Jennifer Campbell, the Mesa Community College Art Gallery Director.
Currently the Gallery is hosting the photography of Richard Renaldi, a new york artist. The exhibition entitled “Touching Strangers” will run until March 24. Admission is free for not just students but also for the community. All are invited to come see the artist’s work for the short time it will be displayed here on the Mesa Community College campus.
