The annual Juried Student Exhibition will be open through April 18 in Gallery 406 at Arts West. The student gallery featured 28 unique pieces that reflected concepts of identity, race, and community. A Juried Exhibition is an artwork gallery and competition that selects the best expressive art in a showcase.
Chair of the art department Samantha DiRosa collaborated with students in the art program to promote the gallery. She said the gallery was a student effort that provided career opportunities for students to gain experiences in their field.
“Juried exhibitions are very common in the art world,” DiRosa said. “We want to create an environment for students to explore the value of visual arts and how they can impact the community.”
DiRosa said she encourages students to explore their artistic desires by submitting their art to the exhibition.
“We want to push students to pursue their pathways,” DiRosa said. “We are always looking for ways to uplift our students and enhance their creative practices. This is a touchstone on their path to success whether they choose to pursue a professional graduate program in art therapy or other forms of expressive art.”
Senior Danny Gutierrez was a featured artist who presented “Hijo Hijo/Afuera,” a piece inspired by his Mexican heritage. Gutierrez said the piece reflected his Latino identity, family, and immigration status.
“My inspiration for this piece was material scarcity and the absence of spaces for marginalized people,” Gutierrez said. “My experience as a child of immigrants has taught me to make a lot from very little. My upbringing as a child of very deeply traditional Mexican parents motivated me to share this message with the community.”
Gutierrez said he collected materials around the art school to make a studio that fits his body. The piece contains colorful sticky notes with Spanish phrases such as ‘hijo’ and ‘dame.' He said these phrases represent how his parents pushed him forward in his artistic career.
“I am interested in access to public art and representing marginalized people in art spaces in ways that are not always seen as high art,” Gutierrez said. “Make whatever art you want to make and make it unabashedly you. It doesn't matter that they don't think it's fine art. It's art. That's it.”
Junior Madison Williams' work explored her Black identity, parental relationships, and symbols of her upbringing.
Williams ceramic art includes four dinner plates with an extra plate. The piece resembles a silhouette of a Black woman, which represents the four Black women in her family.
“We don't have a male father figure in our lives,” Williams said. “My mother has raised us to all be independent, strong single women, we still have that crack in that hole missing that is not easily seen. Together the plates form an illusion that everyone is ready to eat at the table. In reality, the cracks emphasize that missing family member at the table.”
Williams received the Daniel and Newman Endowed Scholarship, the art department’s Pamela Turner Memorial Scholarship. She was also honored with 2 awards the People’s Choice and Jurors Award. The juror committee nominated students artwork from the exhibition that reflected the best expressive art.
Williams said she hopes to spread awareness about black artwork and experiences with the community. She wants to inspire other artists with similar experiences to share their stories.
“I'm hoping that by putting this piece out there other people who also deal with that same struggle of not having a father in their lives will feel seen,” Williams said. “Doing this for the first time has been a very surreal experience. I want other Black artists to not feel afraid to put their experiences out there, no matter how raw or controversial they may be. Because in places like Elon, it needs to be seen.”
Junior James Eaton, another featured artist, presented “On Your Mark” — a piece encompassing each student's journey. Eaton said his charcoal footsteps represented how each student leaves their mark at Elon.
“The mark has a play on footsteps,” Eaton said. “I want people to know their mark matters, you walk around all the time and your footsteps mean something. Signifying the mark that everyone here has made on each other, even if it's a fantasy, I just want people to acknowledge it because it's beautiful.”
Eaton said this art exhibition gave him an opportunity to get out of his comfort zone and express himself in new ways.
“It makes me anxious because I'm not used to showing my work,” Eaton said. “I'm afraid to be judged by it or afraid that it's going to come off the wrong way. I love impacting people, I love evoking certain emotions. So I draw to express myself.”