Seniors showcase art at annual thesis exhibit

Graduating art students will celebrate the conclusion of their education at Wright State University during this month’s annual Senior Thesis Exhibition.

The show includes more than 100 selected works from 31 students graduating during the 2013 academic year. The exhibit includes works from all areas: painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and photography.

The annual Senior Thesis Exhibition, featuring works by graduating art students, runs from April 10-28 in the Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries.

An opening reception will be held in the Robert and Elaine Stein Galleries on Sunday, April 14, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

The senior show has been the last exhibition of the year at the Stein Galleries for more than 30 years.

For students, the exhibition represents a major accomplishment, said Glen Cebulash, chair of the Department of Art and Art History and associate professor of painting and drawing.

“We’re trying to provide an opportunity for students to showcase the work that represents the culmination of their experience in the department,” Cebulash said. “They have worked really hard, and that can be seen in their work and the exhibition as a whole.”

“Variant” by Megan Spencer

Megan Spencer, who specializes in printmaking, said the art show provides an exciting venue to see the Art Department’s work.

“It’s the senior thesis show,” Spencer said, “so it’s supposed to represent the seniors, who each individual is and what they have accomplished in four years, where they’re going, what they’re planning on doing. It’s really nice because if you look around the gallery we have bodies of work.”

Spencer has three pieces in the show, including Variant, a 108-inch by 90-inch installation. She said her work in the exhibit “shows this progression of work I’ve been doing.”

Linda Gredy raised her children and worked for several decades as an illustrator and graphic designer before enrolling in Wright State’s B.F.A. program.

L to R: “Silent” and “Diffractional Differences” by Eric Nichols

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time,” she said of completing her B.F.A. “Being a part of the Senior Thesis show says, you’re finished, you’ve done it, you’ve made it to the finish line.”

Gredy, who studied painting at Wright State, has one piece, Studio, in the show. “Having this painting in the show represents for me the culmination of several years of work, very hard work at times,” she said.

“Ashlee Malloris” by Ashlee Malloris

Participation in the senior show is a requirement for studio art majors in order to graduate. Each student submits a number of pieces for consideration and the faculty as a committee selects which pieces are displayed in the exhibit.

For some students, this is the first exhibition of their work. All students are required to make their work presentable for exhibition, and many had to learn to frame or had to solve display issues specific to their artwork.

The exhibition runs from April 10 to April 28 and will be open during normal gallery hours: Wednesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon–4 p.m.