Quality and quantity converge at Anne Arundel Community College?s Student Art Show.
AACC?s Cade Gallery Coordinator Chris Noma said this year?s student participation reached an all-time high. “We do this every year, and we get a better response every time,” he said. “This year, students submitted over 400 pieces. That?s the most we?ve ever received.” More than 100 submissions were chosen for display.
“There is every type of art you could imagine,” Noma said. “It shows the range of what our students are doing. They are very involved in making great work.”
The exhibit was juried by photographerand Morgan State art professor Ken Royster, who chose seven works for the college to purchase and permanently display on campus.
“Ken is very concerned with the way things look and the content of the pieces; all those things matter to him,” Noma said.
Pasadena resident Joyce Fries-Brune?s landscape encaustic painting was among the works chosen for purchase. Encaustic painting, or hot-wax painting, involves melted wax being dripped and molded onto a hard surface ? Fries-Brune uses plywood ? to form the artist?s images.
“One of the things with encaustic painting is that you have to move fast. Once you take the wax out of the tin, it dries immediately,” Fries-Brune said. “You have to take it out and put it on the plywood immediately. Then, I burn it with a torch, to mold the wax to the plywood.”
Noma said the quality of the artwork in the show would surprise visitors the most.
“A lot of these pieces would not be different than what you would see in a commercial gallery,” Noma said. “A lot of the paintings are spectacular, and the photographs are especially sharp. It?s a chance to see some unusual media you would not normally see.”
Two of the more unique pieces in the show include a burgundy coat made entirely of homemade felt and a sculpture titled “Trapped.”
“The coat is a deep maroon, red color with some purple; it?s beautiful, very striking,” Noma said. “And ?Trapped? is really fun. It?s a sculpture made out of buoys, crab traps and fake jellyfish. It?s really bright and a lot of fun.”
Fries-Brune said plenty of the art in the show amazed her. “I?m rather surprised they chose mine to purchase, because there are so many others that I think are deserving too, even more than mine,” she said.
IF YOU GO
» AACC Student Art Show
» Venue: Cade Gallery, Anne Arundel Community College; 101 College Parkway, Arnold
» Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday through May 11
» Price: Free
» More Info: www.aacc.edu/cadegallery
