ST. GEORGE – The Sears Art Museum Gallery at the Dixie State College Dolores Dore’ Eccles Fine Arts Center is presenting the annual Dixie State Artist’s Showcase, which will on display beginning on Monday, April 11.
A free artist reception will be held on Friday evening, April 15, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., where the public will be invited to view the exhibit, enjoy refreshments, musical entertainment, and meet the artists.
The annual Showcase features the finest work of DSC students and faculty from the 2010-11 academic year. The exhibit allows Dixie art students to experience the benefits of learning to present themselves and their artwork in a professional manner and to improve their portfolios. The Showcase also provides DSC art professors an opportunity to show off the work they have accomplished throughout the year.
“This year’s range of student work will incorporate traditional, contemporary, mixed-media and experimental statement,” said DSC Art Professor Dennis Martinez. “The Art Department continues to offer a wider range of upper division studio and history courses, which has provided opportunity for more individual expression and development of media. Patrons can look forward to watching two students as they produce a large scale work in the gallery.”
This year’s Showcase will feature a wide variety of art media, including oil, watercolor and acrylic paintings, drawings in various media, ceramics, mixed media sculptures, traditional and digital photography and various art installations. The exhibit is a strong presentation of the many studio art classes offered at Dixie State. Several students exhibiting work will be graduating with an Associate of Arts degree and a Bachelors of Integrated Studies.
“This is a great opportunity for both art students and art faculty to present recent work that truly defines the range of talent and experience necessary for a strong and developing degree program,” explains Glen Blakley, DSC Art Professor. “The Showcase is an educational experience for our students. We have enjoyed the talents of students in the past, who have very successful careers, including Michael Malm, Al Rounds, and Karl Thomas, just to name a few. We certainly expect to continue this legacy.”
According to DSC Sears Art Museum Gallery curator Kathy Cieslewicz, a number of the pieces in the exhibit are for sale, with a portion of proceeds going to benefit the DSC Art Department.
“This exhibit is always a favorite. It is such a great experience for students to have the opportunity to show their art and especially exciting when their art sells,” says Cieslewicz. “It is also a great opportunity for collectors to pick up a piece of art from a new and aspiring artist, who someday may be a famous artist.”
The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, runs through Thursday, May 5, with exhibit hours running weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please contact Sears Art Museum Gallery curator Kathy Cieslewicz at 435-652-7909, or DSC art professor Dennis Martinez at 435-652-7794.