Exams and final papers weren't the only things that some Tigers turned in last semester. Students enrolled in studio art courses had the opportunity to submit up to four pieces for potential display in the Juried Student Art Exhibition, which opened to the public on Feb. 9 in a Peeler Art Center gallery.
"[The pieces] had to be ready to be hung, and used in a gallery setting," said junior Brittany Sievers, whose piece "Red Cliff" was one of the submissions selected to be in the exhibition.
Sievers, a studio art major, needed to stretch and frame her painting before she could enter it. She enjoyed the final result, though, since it looked more professional.
"It's interesting to see how it transforms," Sievers said. "It's completely different,"
Sievers painted "Red Cliff" while in Intro to Painting, the first painting class that she took at DePauw. "Red Cliff" consists of a granite background, one bright red corner, a green stripe and several other colorful geometric shapes. She considers the red to be the central focus of the painting, but the green keeps the corner from overpowering the whole piece.
"It's about tension and contrast," she said.
"Red Cliff" is quite different from other artwork Sievers has completed, especially considering her focus is more on sculptures and ceramics. The painting itself was also larger in size than what she was used to — she used a five-by-five canvas to create the piece.
Nevertheless, she enjoyed the project. Sievers said she was happy to have the chance to work through a new medium, form a straightforward and linear piece and work on making the triangular and geometric shapes "pop," even in 2-D.
"I think it reflects well with what I've done with three dimensions," Sievers said.
Along with enjoying the processes of painting and preparing her work for submission, Sievers is excited to have her work displayed in a show for the first time, especially since this is the first piece of artwork she has ever submitted for a gallery.
Since Sievers won first place in two dimensions, she also got the chance to submit "Red Cliff" to a competition in Indianapolis that only accepts two pieces from each college taking part in the Juried Student Art Exhibition.
"It's a really cool experience," Sievers said.
Junior Elizabeth Young, who also had a piece selected for the exhibition, was enthusiastic about her work appearing on display as well.
Young's studio classes encouraged the students to submit their work to the shows. Young enjoyed the freedom of assignments she had in studio classes and entered two pieces for this particular exhibition.
"I was really excited to find out [one of my pieces] had been accepted," said Young, an art history and studio art double major. "A few people have come up and complimented me, and I hadn't seen it in the show yet, so that was exciting."
Young's piece, entitled "Michael," is an oil on canvas portrait of her friend, Michael. In comparison to her other artwork, this portrait is more formal than what she usually does. Her artwork is typically more abstract, but in this case, she was simply trying to depict what she saw in front of her.
"I was trying to capture the essence of his personality," Young said.
A drawing of Young's appeared in the Juried Student Art Exhibition at DePauw last year, but her work has not been displayed in any other galleries.
Young doesn't have any other specific galleries in mind that she would like to submit her artwork to, but she is certain that she will continue to enter her pieces for additional galleries to show.
"For me, it's relaxing and expressive," Young said of art in general.
According to Peeler Art Center's web page, Tyler Lotz, an associate professor of ceramics at Illinois State University, chose the pieces for the exhibition this year.
The Juried Student Art Exhibition will display artwork created by DePauw students in Peeler until March 17. All galleries at Peeler are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.