Annual Ҵýƽ exhibition celebrates student art online
COVID-19 cancels in-person exhibition, but art and art history department strives to showcase student art
Asglobal pandemics and public art exhibitions arenot terribly compatible,last week, the Department ofArtandArt History Departmentat the University of Colorado Boulderlaunched its annualKing Exhibition onlineinstead of in a gallery.
Thedigital exhibit, which is the department’s yearly opportunity to celebrate student work,features artwork made bymore than 60 undergraduate and graduatestudents.
Curated byartandarthistory graduate students and juried by invited art professionals, scholarships are awardedbased on quality of workto three undergraduate and three graduate students. The event is funded by CUBoulderalumni Kevin King andMerideeMoore.
Jeanne Quinn,professor ofceramicsand chairof thedepartment, said theKingExhibition is typically apeak point of the year.
“It’s a chance to celebrate all of the fantastic student work that is being done, and fill our building with great art in all media,” Quinn said, adding that the department holds the event during the Conference on World Affairsto encourage visitors on campus for the conference to take in art as well.
The Kingfamilyhassupported the eventand its scholarshipsfor almosta decade.
“They are passionate about art and supporting young artists, and their energy and enthusiasm are contagious to us all,” Quinn said, adding:
We are all so disappointed not to be able to meet in person for this celebration, but our student curators and staff, primarily Kirsten Stoltz(coordinator of the Visiting ArtistandScholar Program), worked incredibly hard to get all of the work online in a way that made it a pleasure to view.”
Avery Glassman,aҴýƽ student pursuing both a master’s degree in art history and aMaster’s ofBusinessAdministration, is one of the student curators.She said she is eager to provide artists with as many high-quality exhibition opportunities as before the COVID-19 outbreak.
Glassman said there arepros and consto an online exhibition:“Nothing compares to exhibiting in a physical space where viewers can have their own experience with the work. At the same time, hosting the exhibition online means the audience is potentially much wider than it would be otherwise.”
She noted that much of the work in this year's King Exhibition is intensely personal, whether exploring family separation and shared sentiment, the body's limitations or memories thatare hard to ignore.
“With this in mind, perhaps viewing these works from our own intimate spaces is more appropriate than the public space of the gallery,” Glassman said.“When we absorb the images from the couch, bed or kitchen table, the work's private world enters ours, underscoring the connective possibilities that exist even in isolation.”
This year’s scholarship awardswereannounced last week, and the winners areas follows: Alejandra Abad,Laura ConwayandMikey Yateswon graduate scholarships, andGrace Groves,Sara St. ClairandAidanWelbywon undergraduate scholarships.
The 2020 King Exhibitionjurors included:Michael Chavez,publicartprogrammanager,City and County of Denver;Gabrielle Schuller,seniorarchitect,City and County of Denver; andJohnSpiak,directororchiefcurator,California State University Fullerton’s Grand Central Art Center.
The graduate-student exhibitioncuratorsincludedCali Banks,Glassman,Allison LemonandJerryanRamos Hernandez.