Artwork worth a second glance

Two new student exhibitions are on display at the Woodbury Art Museum through April 30. The BFA Final Project Showcase includes the work of five students, an honor which is competed for by graduating seniors in the Art & Visual Communications department. The Student Art Show, a juried competition with cash prizes, was open to all UVU students.

The BFA exhibit features the works of Michelle Beck, Jenny Elizabeth, Anna Fulton, Autumn Linsley and Jesse L. Royston. Large-scale pieces are heavily featured in this exhibit. A charming touch in this show is “inspiration boxes” showing sketches, items that the artists have worked with and pieces of inspiration.

The Student Art Show accepted the works of 42 students. The exhibit represents abundant diversity both in subject matter and mediums.

The pieces were judged by Jeff Lambson, curator of contemporary art at BYU’s Museum of Art. He expressed that they were juried based on four criteria: skill, aesthetics, dialogue with art history and concept.

“It’s a great example of art that’s been created in Utah,” said Lambson. “The art that’s being created here is just as good and just as valid as art that is being created in New York City or Los Angeles.”

This is, perhaps, the best opportunity all year to see the many facets of students’ visual creativity. The Woodbury Art Museum is open Monday through Friday between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. It is located on the second floor of University Mall in Orem, with an entrance between Nordstrom and the Gap. Admission is free.

Jesse L. Royston
BFA participant

Behind her artwork: “I like to incorporate different senses into my paintings …  It seems abstract in the way that a memory would be. You can’t quite remember it, but you get this general feeling.”

Goals: Considering graduate school for art therapy

Jenny Elizabeth
BFA participant

Source of inspiration: “What inspires me is humanity and the over 106 billion people who have lived on the earth. For me, every one of them is somebody. People come on the earth, we take from the earth, we create, it disintegrates and more people come.”

Goals: Currently owns an art studio with husband Patrick Devonas; plans to continue painting about societal issues and women’s experiences.

MaryBeth Longmore
Student Art Show participant

Influential classes at UVU: Figure drawing and alternative photography

Goals: “I’m planning on moving to California and getting things into galleries and selling my work.”

Michelle Beck
BFA participant; second place in Student Art Show

About art: “You have to do it from your soul, otherwise it’s not going to look good, it’s not going to look presentable, no matter what genre of art it is.”

Goals: Curating and working in a studio.

Teagan Alex (artwork shown above)
First place in Student Art Show

Inspiration behind her winning piece: “It was actually my dog. He had cancer. When I started this project, they told me that he wasn’t going to live very long, so I started photographing things that were dead to help me feel okay with it.”

Goals: Teaching high school photography and running a studio.