Illinois State University’s Student Annual exhibition will be on view through May 8 at University Galleries in Uptown Normal.
Since 1974, the Student Annual has showcased new artwork produced by students at Illinois State University. The juried exhibition, which features work in a variety of mediums and styles, offers many students the first opportunity to have their work reviewed by professionals outside the University.
The School of Art is pleased to present the 2016 Marshall Dulaney Pitcher Award to M.F.A. student Dylan Welch and B.F.A. student Andrew Bybee. Both artists were recognized for their achievements during the presentation of awards April 13. To further honor their accomplishments, University Galleries will devote additional exhibition space to the presentation of new works by both artists.
The Student Annual awards include 10 Irving S. Tick awards, the Nam Clark Drawing Award, the Glen Lapekas Scholarship, and the Richard D. Finch Undergraduate Drawing and Printmaking Award. Additional awards are presented by Randy Reid, the arts technology program, Normal Editions Workshop, and the following areas within the School of Art: ceramics, glass, and graphic design. The School of Art sponsors the “Best in Show” award. Students receiving these awards were named during the opening reception and awards ceremony.
This year’s studio juror is Karen Reimer, lecturer in fiber and material studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Reimer’s artwork explores the cross section between craft and conceptual art by recreating everyday ephemera, such as book pages or sugar packets, through embroidery and other needle-and-thread methods. She has had solo exhibitions at Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago; the Rochester Art Center, Minnesota; the Riverside Arts Center, Illinois; Schopf Gallery, Chicago; and the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago. Her work has been included in group shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Contemporary Craft Museum, Portland, Oregon; and Wallspace Gallery, New York, among others. She is also the recipient of an Artadia Individual Artist grant and a Richard A. Driehaus Individual Artist award. Reimer completed a B.A. at Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas; and an M.F.A. at the University of Chicago. She is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
This year’s design juror is Chad McKenzie, creative director and partner of McKenzie Wagner Inc. McKenzie received his degree from Illinois State University and formed The Golden Mean in the early 1990s in Champaign-Urbana. Today McKenzie Wagner’s clients are scattered across the nation, in Indianapolis, Chicago, and Colorado, as well as the central Illinois area. One of McKenzie Wagner’s recent projects was a total redesign of the city of Urbana’s website.
The 2016 Student Annual is sponsored by Casey’s Garden Shop and Florist, Jimmy John’s, the College of Fine Arts, and Friends of the Arts.