2008 Woodie Awards
Alumni bring experiences to anniversary art show
Katie Gregowicz
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: A&E
SIUE alumni from as far as 150 miles away returned to Edwardsville last weekend to have their artwork displayed in the University Museum on the second floor of Morris University Center.
The 50th Anniversary Alumni Invitational is part of the SIUE anniversary celebration and will be displayed until Friday, Nov. 2.
Emeritus art and design professor Dan Anderson was in charge of setting the exhibit up. He wrote more than 1,000 letters asking alumni with art studio degrees to submit samples of their work and received more than 300 responses.
"The competition was keen," Anderson said. "Those who were not selected for the show ranged from depressed to mad to disappointed."
Anderson asked two other emeritus art & design professors, Philipp Hampton and Dennis Ringering, to help him choose whose work would be shown in the exhibit.
Artists were asked to mail burned CDs of their work so jurors could do a blind selection. In a blind selection, the artists' names are covered up, so the winners are chosen based strictly on the artwork.
Anderson said a jury was needed for two reasons: the large number of applicants and the small gallery available.
The jurors unanimously chose 51 entries to be exhibited, but one artist could not make it for the show, so 50 pieces are shown in the gallery.
"Champaign was probably one of the farthest places we had an artist come from. About a third of the artists are from the Edwardsville area," Anderson said.
Ron Kovatch graduated from SIUE in 1987 with a master's degree in studio art. He is now the head of ceramics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Kovatch said art is the best form of communication for him.
"I communicate best through content meaning of imagery," Kovatch said. "Art is a form of communication that I take very seriously. My ideas are laid out on the line."
Kovatch said the average person only looks at a piece of art for three seconds and then moves on. Making a connection with the viewer is the key to hooking him or her.
The 50th Anniversary Alumni Invitational is part of the SIUE anniversary celebration and will be displayed until Friday, Nov. 2.
Emeritus art and design professor Dan Anderson was in charge of setting the exhibit up. He wrote more than 1,000 letters asking alumni with art studio degrees to submit samples of their work and received more than 300 responses.
"The competition was keen," Anderson said. "Those who were not selected for the show ranged from depressed to mad to disappointed."
Anderson asked two other emeritus art & design professors, Philipp Hampton and Dennis Ringering, to help him choose whose work would be shown in the exhibit.
Artists were asked to mail burned CDs of their work so jurors could do a blind selection. In a blind selection, the artists' names are covered up, so the winners are chosen based strictly on the artwork.
Anderson said a jury was needed for two reasons: the large number of applicants and the small gallery available.
The jurors unanimously chose 51 entries to be exhibited, but one artist could not make it for the show, so 50 pieces are shown in the gallery.
"Champaign was probably one of the farthest places we had an artist come from. About a third of the artists are from the Edwardsville area," Anderson said.
Ron Kovatch graduated from SIUE in 1987 with a master's degree in studio art. He is now the head of ceramics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Kovatch said art is the best form of communication for him.
"I communicate best through content meaning of imagery," Kovatch said. "Art is a form of communication that I take very seriously. My ideas are laid out on the line."
Kovatch said the average person only looks at a piece of art for three seconds and then moves on. Making a connection with the viewer is the key to hooking him or her.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Mary-Glynn Boies
posted 11/06/07 @ 1:41 PM CST
I would be interested in the catalog- could you please send me information. I am a 1965 (Alton campus) graduate with a B. A. in Art. I also exhibit locally, nationally and had one international exhibition in Oxford England. (Continued…)
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