By Alyssa Martinez
From 6- 8:30 p.m. April 5, the Cameron University Department of Art, Music and Theatre Arts opened “Through Our Eyes,” the annual senior art exhibition at the Leslie Powell Art gallery. The reception was free and open to the public and will remain open to the from 12 – 4 p.m. weekdays until May 2.
Students enrolled in the Senior Art Major Capstone course put together the exhibition in a little over four months.
The Capstone class exists to determine if the students have achieved the necessary standards and skills of the department during their time in the program, with one of the biggest skills for art being mounting the exhibition from start to finish.
Students present a variety of media, styles and subjects for the gallery. The students are responsible for not only preparing their own work but mounting it properly, putting together advertisements, a press release, mailing lists to get the word out about the show, preparing artists statements to describe their work, having a guest book, professionally printing the labels for their artwork, catering for the reception, and of course, pricing and selling their work for the show.
Assistant Professor Jack Crouch said it is an important opportunity for students to gain professional experience of the work that goes into setting up and promoting a gallery.
“They’re getting to experience… what it is like to show outside of a higher education environment,” Crouch said.
Presenting artists include Dayton Horn, Carnegie; Camila Ramos Tobar, San Salvador, El Salvador; Haley Wann Hart, Fort Cobb; Diane Denham, Medicine Park; Kanney Do, Sabrina McClellan and Jaden Pebeahsy, Lawton; and Sooner Meyer, Walters.
Although the work may be challenging, many of the students find the experience rewarding in both professional and deeply personal ways.
Senior Bachelor of Arts major Haley Wann Hart describes the show and the work she put into it as one of her biggest achievements so far, both with the time and effort she put into making her work as well as setting up the gallery.
“The work I put into my Senior exhibition means so much to me,” Hart said. “I have always wanted to be an artist since I was a little girl, so it was truly one of my biggest achievements.”
Hart also gained appreciation for official gallery directors who do the work of hosting shows.
Senior Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Diane Denham presented sculptures she made throughout her time in the art program as well as eleven paintings full of abstract, colorful figures that look like they cannot move very well, a significant departure from her usual work.
“The reason I went that route was because I lost my husband in December,” Denham said. “He always liked abstract paintings…it came to me to work with figures that were very limited in what they could do physically. ”
Although the idea came to her while she was still grieving, she wanted the figures to be brightly colored because it is when she produces that kind of art that makes her happy.
“I wanted them to be happy, colorful and fun because that’s what I want to do with my art,” Denham said. “If I could make somebody laugh, that’s my goal in life.”
The gallery will run from 12 – 4 p.m. weekdays until May 2 at The Leslie Powell Art Gallery, 620 S.W. D Avenue. For questions, contact the Department of Art, Music and Theatre Arts at (580) 581-2346 or the Leslie Powell Gallery at (580) 357-9526.