By April Wilson, Senior Staff Writer
The latest exhibit at UNO’s art gallery features works by undergraduate students in the departments of Fine Arts and Art History. The juried exhibition was presided over by local artist and Creighton professor of graphic design, Tim Guthrie.
The pieces included in the show were handpicked by Guthrie from submissions by more than 40 student artists. The eclectic pieces vary from traditional paintings and drawings to sculpture, multimedia projects and even a fascinating piece made entirely of colored pencils, resin and enamel.
“It is important to know your jurist,” said senior Charles Fischer, who had all four of his submissions accepted. Fischer’s pieces were all tailored to Guthrie’s known aesthetic, which included the use and examination of anatomy and experimental works.
The exhibit is an annual springtime tradition at the gallery. Guthrie evaluated the submissions of the artists and determined what would be included in the display. Guthrie’s own works have been displayed worldwide, and include experimental animation as well as more “traditional” medium pieces.
Part of the exhibition is the awarding of the Bertha Mengedoht Hatz Scholarship to several of the students. Guthrie will also recommend the recipients of this award, which began with an endowment from the artist during the 1960s.
A new feature of this year’s student exhibition is the display of two of Hatz’s paintings that date back to 1904 and 1905, according to gallery coordinator Denise Brady. The two paintings were recently donated to the university by relatives of Hatz and were restored for the display.
For many students, this is a validation of their time and effort spent in the art studios. For others, their works were inspired by their daily frustrations in their pursuit of creating art. Senior Coley Mixan and junior Conor MacBride had the only multimedia piece chosen for the exhibit. The pair said the piece was inspired by a frustrating painting course.
The piece, “The World Holds Much Greater Problems Than Ours (A Requiem for Creations Destroyers),” featured not only two burned and destroyed canvases that were at one time paintings, but a video showing the destruction of the work interwoven with images from history through modern day depicting things like WWII, and last year’s Arab Spring.
“The point was that [our problems] don’t really matter, Mixan said. “There are so many bigger things going on in the world.”
MacBride agreed, adding, “Things can always be worse. A [bad] grade in a painting class isn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.”
The display will continue through March 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The gallery is located in the Weber Fine Arts Building. Admission is free and appointments for other times can be made by calling 402-554-2796.
