Juried show highlights outstanding original student art

On Thursday February 8^th students, faculty and community members gathered for The College of Visual and Performing Arts’ annual juried student art competition held at the Radford University Arts Museum Downtown Gallery. Nineteen awards were presented to top student works, totaling $1700 in prize money.

The juror for the competition was Professor Emeritus Jim Knipe, who taught photography at Radford until his retirement in 2008. Prior to presenting the evening’s awards, Knipe discussed how the program is a great opportunity for students. Not only is there the potential to receive monetary prizes, but participants also get to experience the process of competing in a juried show without a lot of the headaches that accompany entering art shows in the professional field. Knipe commended the selection of student works and encouraged those who did not receive awards to avoid becoming discouraged and to continue honing their skills. “If we could give awards to everyone in the show, of course, everyone would be happy, but it becomes less meaningful if no distinction is made,” Knipe said to the attendees.

The range of media represented in the show was impressive, with oil, watercolor, photography, woodcut, pottery, jewelry, and digital art comprising much of the selection of works. Lodema Miller won the Art Museum Purchase Award, which is the top prize for the show. The distinction comes with a $300 cash prize and the selected work becomes part of the Radford University Art Museum’s permanent collection.

Student art works will be on display through March 14^th at the Radford University Art Museum Downtown, so be sure to stop in to view this impressive collection of top students works.