USI students were awarded for their artistic talents Sunday afternoon at the 41st Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition at the McCutchan Art Center and Pace Galleries. Students’ paintings, statues, photographs and other forms of visual art were displayed during the Exhibition. 

The USI art department joined forces with dozens of local business, organizations and private donors who contributed financially to the show, giving out awards such as “Ceramics Merit Award”, “Photography Merit Award”, as well as awards for stand out freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Also being recognized were drawing, graphic design, illustration, interactive media, sculpture and many more types of art created by students.

Pieces of a variety of mediums were displayed, from the thought provoking sculpture Detained by Veronica Koester to the gritty photograph City Grime on The Rise by Kyle Kress to the striking Weren’t They All Once Someone’s Baby? acrylic by Jamie Williams.  

Two of the biggest awards of the afternoon were The Jim Parrent Memorial Scholarship, worth $600, and Best of Show.

The Parrent award went to Laura Coval, for her compressed pastel chalk and charcoal painting Striped Blanket.

Christopher Thompson won Best of Show for his screen print Everything was Blurred. The award has a value of $750, which was donated by Deedira C. Bockhold.

While the ceremony may have only lasted about 30 minutes, the art gallery in the basement of the LA remains open to the public.

Instructor of art history Virginia Poston says that we are all very lucky for that fact.

“We are so very fortunate to have great friends in the university who have made this possible,” said Poston.

“A large university deserves a proper art space.”

And thanks to the dedicated students and staff in the art department, USI does.