A look at the Imprints Exhibition

By Marian Pope

As the clock neared the 6 p.m. mark on Wednesday, April 2, a small crowd of students gathered outside the entrance to The 220 Gallery inside the Stevens Student Center. Then the doors opened and students entered into the gallery to admire the latest juried art exhibition: Imprints. 

Many art and design students submitted their works for a chance to be showcased: From walnut chairs to trading cards, from magazines to cardboard. The exhibition showcased the works of the lucky few who were chosen. None of the artists knew whether their artwork made it into the showcase, the Art and Design professors decided which works made it, and the chosen pieces shocked many.

“The professors just always encourage us to be proud of what we do and to submit it so other people can enjoy it as well,” said Chloe Best, a junior Visual Communication Design major. 

Four out of Best’s five submissions made it into the Imprints exhibition.

Corr Alley, a sophomore, designed a magazine cover with a two page spread. Heavily inspired by the movie Whiplash, his magazine, Jazz Notes, elegantly stands out from the others on display by its black and gold color scheme. Alley said that he submitted his work just because he thought it turned out well. 

Another sophomore, Adrien McGuire, was also surprised to see his project, “Chromatic Range,”  make it into the art exhibit. Though it is a small acrylic work on canvas, it carries a lot of importance to McGuire. 

Originally, it was supposed to be based on the primary colors and shapes, but as he continued to play with his painting, it morphed into mountains and clouds.

“It started becoming less and less shape and started becoming more and more– not really emotion– but emotional, and much more impressionist,” McGuire said.

Best designed a set of Barbie trading cards. The trading cards, with their box labeled “Learn The Alphabet A–Z With Barbie,” feature a Barbie character’s name for each letter of the alphabet along with an image of their character. 

When asked about her inspiration, Best shared that she grew up watching Barbie movies with her three sisters. 

“The assignment was to make some type of book, but I wanted to go outside the box a little bit and do something different than what everyone else was doing,” Best said. “So I decided on the trading cards.”

Besides these paper and canvas media, there are ceramics– including bowls, vases, and even a lamp.

McKayla Hocking created a ceramic lamp for her Advanced Ceramics class. Hocking was assigned to make something stackable. As she likes her art to be functional, Hockings decided to make a lamp with stackable bases.

From art beginners to experienced artists, every attendee found something they enjoyed. The artists, who poured hours of work into their projects, were rewarded with seeing their creation on display.

The Imprints exhibit at The 220 Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays until April 28.

Marian Pope is a sophomore in the Professional Writing and Information Design program. When she is not working on homework, she can be found biking, reading, plotting stories, or spending time with friends and family over a cup of coffee.

Photos taken by Marian Pope