Senior Art Exhibit in full swing at Concordia

This year’s Concordia seniors will soon be heading out the doors to fulfill their life goals. For those seniors majoring in art, the Senior Art Exhibit provides a last chance to display their works to the Concordia community.

This year’s Concordia College Senior Art Exhibit showcases from April 9 to May 5 in the Cyrus M. Running Gallery. The exhibit showcases works from those graduating this May, with an art, art education, graphic design, or art history major.

This exhibit is a chance for the Concordia seniors to display their works within their preferred subject matter. Works such as acrylic and watercolor paintings, ceramic works, sculptures and graphic design prints fill the gallery, and because of the great talent from these Concordia students, there is something for everyone to see and appreciate.

Michaela Chorn, a Concordia art major notes that more than 50 hours went into installing the exhibit because of the many works. She says that the exhibit is “jam-packed and there is so much stuff to look at.”

The graphic design pieces display designs that have been used in everyday advertising, spoof ads, t-shirt designs and snowboard designs. The painting subjects range from sceneries to portraits to still-life works with sports themes to more abstract pieces.

Chorn, whose focus within her major is oil painting, concentrates on portrait paintings with the preferred subject matter of expression.

Art major Katie Weikle, whose focus is geared towards ceramics, also works with the subject matter of expression within many of her works displayed. However, Weikle is the only graduating senior currently with the focus of ceramics, so she does experiment with different subject matters and themes.

“The experience has been really fun,” Weikle said. “A lot of people have been walking through—a lot more than I expected.”

For these seniors, it is the last time they will be able to showcase all their hard work to their fellow Cobbers and community members. After this year, Chorn will be taking a year off to work on some pieces and hopes to attend grad school for museum studies and painting. Chorn also says that what she is really looking forward to is getting to exhibit in big galleries. She hopes one day to exhibit her works on either the east or west coast or maybe even New York because “it is like the mother-ship of all artists.”

Weikle will be working at a camp this summer where she will help kids with crafts and in September is going to a Germany Missions and Art School in for six months. There she will also be working with younger kids, knitting, origami and teaching other crafts.

Others, like Travis Klath, a senior graphic design major, do not have a definite plan yet. Klath is hoping to stay around the Fargo-Moorhead area and find graphic design work here.

The seniors really enjoy the experience to showcase their works one last time.

“It’s always fun,” Chorn said. “If I happen to be walking through the gallery and if people are looking at things—it doesn’t even have to be my works—it’s always fun to hear people in awe.”

The public reception will be held on May 4. Awards were also be announced in the Comstock Theater on April 18 during the Celebration of Student Scholarship, where students can view the Senior Art Exhibit following. The awards presented on April 18 included one $250 Patron Purchase Award, one $100 Graphic Design Prize, one $100 First Prize and three Merit Awards at $50 each.

Chorn, like all the other seniors, is hoping for an award this year, but she knows anyone might win.

“There’s a lot of really great talent in there—a lot of competition—so it’s really anyone’s game,” she said.

So far, there have been more people than any other show this year, Chorn said.

“I’m excited about the show and I hope a lot of people come and check it out,” she said.  “If they can’t make it to the reception then at least try and check it out a different day. There’s a lot of great talent in there.”