Spring is on the horizon and once again, the St. Peter’s College Fine Arts Department Student Exhibit is displayed in the Humboldt & District Gallery.
“The primary purpose of any art exhibition is to bring good work to the public so that they can see in their communities the richness of artistic production and that’s exactly what happens with our long running show at the museum and gallery,” said one of the organizers, Grant McConnell.
The show is put together by McConnell, a drawing instructor at the college, and Clint Hunker, who teaches painting. McConnell estimates the exhibit has been a Humboldt institution for about 10 years now.
“Having an exhibit like this that’s student work is very important,” said Jean Price, the program co-ordinator at the Humboldt & District Museum and Gallery. “It gives students experience in exhibiting their work in a gallery, which is kind of a special thing to do, especially since most of them are first- and second-year students.”
The exhibit began when museum and gallery director, Jennifer Hoesgen, contacted McConnell about the possibility of putting together a student exhibit.
“Every time we can partner with another organization is to everyone’s benefit,” Price said. “We don’t offer classes that produce work like this and they don’t have the space to mount a show like this. By partnering, we get the really great show and they get a much nicer space than they’re able to provide on their own.”
Up until last year, it was held in the museum, but the organizers say the gallery is better-suited to the exhibit.
“It gives us a nice place to be able to spread them out so people can enjoy them properly,” Price said. McConnell added that the exhibit looks great in the new gallery.
The pieces are by drawing or painting students, but within those two categories are multiple media displayed by the 24 pieces, such as charcoal and pencil, acrylic paints, and watercolour.
Students were asked to separate out three or four works they thought were strong and hand them in to McConnell and Hunker for consideration. The two then chose the ones they felt were strongest to put in the exhibition. Though they are student works, there’s quite an age range, with artists ranging from about 18 up to their 60s.
“They get a chance to give pretty serious consideration to what they want to represent them in public, which takes some courage on their part to exhibit,” McConnell said. “It’s quite personal, and for them to get it up to the point where they can show it in public takes some courage on their part.”
It’s not just the students who benefit from the exhibit; the community gets to see what kind of art can be produced by people right here at home.
“I think the main thing is to appreciate what we have in our own community,” Price said. “We do get a lot of traveling exhibits and we do have art coming in from other places, but part of the mandate of the gallery is to promote the arts in Humboldt and we like to give that focus to local artists … It gives young artists an opportunity to show what they can do and the community an opportunity to experience that.”
McConnell added that the pieces are a reflection of the community, since most artists come from Humboldt and area.
He hopes that people coming to see the gallery have a patient eye and take their time looking at all the pieces.
The exhibit will be in the Humboldt Gallery until March 27.
