Creative Activity

During the 2024 fall semester, one of my main goals was to create an online presence and submit art to public exhibitions. Most experiences in academia involve the learning process and participating in on-campus activities which tend to be isolated sterilized experiences.  Coming up on graduation next semester, I decided to work with a graduate student and engage in professional artist activities outside of the university environment.

The first objective was to create an online presence by developing a profile on CallforEntries (Café) and submitting entries to galleries around the country for both juried and open exhibitions. This website is commonly used by artists to submit to all forms of media and at all skill levels, so it was a very good opportunity at my stage. Such exhibitions also require the artist to develop artist statements to support their work. In my situation, I am attempting to explain specific narratives, such as nostalgia, or the expression of nature as seen in art. Within my print artwork, I challenge the construct of nostalgia, and how it may be challenged by race, gender, and sexuality. The specific works I am showcasing use imagery from old advertisements for the Walgreens lunch counters or pop culture imagery such as Howdy Dowdy.

The other main objective was to seek out local galleries for both juried and open exhibitions. This included looking at the two main galleries in Mankato, The Carnegie Gallery and the 410 Gallery. Last year I was able to get a submission into The Carnegie Gallery juried exhibition. Local gallery exhibitions give artists opportunities to not only display their works but also to network within the art community.

Lastly, I wanted to better reflect on my artwork within the honors website and portfolio. The honors website is available to be used when applying to exhibitions and places of employment. The website gives me an opportunity to display not only my artwork but also my academic and leadership accomplishments.

During this semester I was able to apply and was accepted into a juried exhibition (280 submissions) in Arizona and shipped a piece of artwork, at university expense to the gallery. Juried exhibitions allow artists to see how their works compare with others for public display.  Entering the competition involved submitting photographs of works that relate to the theme of the show. Typically, a local or national artist will be invited to jury the artworks and select pieces for the show.  For this show, they did not reveal the jurist.  I currently am waiting for a second juried submission at the same gallery. I had another two pieces accepted in an open exhibition at the 410 Gallery for an open exhibition of works of local artists which was beneficial in helping me network with others.  I was able to talk with other artists who had submitted works and connected with several artists I had already worked with. Open exhibitions except all works as juried exhibitions have an artist or panel of artists reviewing works for display and risk rejection. The Carnegie Gallery did not have a members juried exhibition this year. Working with the art department's facilities, I was able to create a photographic library of my work, which I was able to use to enhance my honors website.

Now with my foot in the door, I can continue to develop networking and engage in local exhibitions. One of the benefits of getting involved in these real-life activities has been to help improve my comfort level. With the Callforentries website, I have access to hundreds of national and international exhibitions. The website also keeps track of all of my entries, as well as a visual library of my works. The networking that has happened thus far has helped open opportunities for local and regional exhibitions. One of the best ways to discover new opportunities is through meeting other artists at gallery exhibitions. Hopefully, I will be able to create a reputation that is positive within the art community. One of the other important aspects of this semester's work is to focus on creating my senior show, which is the capstone event for all the artists seeking their BFA. At this point, I am on track to have a full art portfolio to display within the senior show.