{"id":157461,"date":"2025-03-14T09:53:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T13:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=157461"},"modified":"2025-03-14T09:53:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T13:53:14","slug":"student-art-takes-center-stage-at-wright-states-artsgala-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2025\/03\/14\/student-art-takes-center-stage-at-wright-states-artsgala-auction\/","title":{"rendered":"Student art takes center stage at Wright State\u2019s ArtsGala Auction"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Patrons can bid on artwork by Wright State students Libby Gephart, left, and Suvekshya Maharjan during ArtsGala the silent auction on April 5. ArtsGala raises scholarship funds for Wright State’s fine and performing arts students. (Photos by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

ArtsGala<\/a>, Wright State University\u2019s annual celebration of its fine and performing arts, highlights the talents of the program\u2019s students amid a backdrop of raising scholarship money.<\/p>\n

The fundraising opportunities include a chance to bid on art by two Wright State students, each with a compelling artistic vision and backstory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lite,\u201d an acrylic painting by first-year fine arts major Suvekshya Maharjan, and the ceramic sculpture \u201cTexture Non Raffinee\u201d by junior fine arts major Libby Gephart were judged by the ArtsGala Host Committee as the best among 25 entries from fine art majors.<\/p>\n

ArtsGala will be held Saturday, April 5, in the Creative Arts Center on the Dayton Campus. A VIP reception for sponsors, ArtsGala Society members and grand patrons will be held from 6 to 6:45 p.m. in the Upper Stein Galleries; the opening ceremony will be from 7 to 7:30 p.m. in Schuster Hall.<\/p>\n

This will be followed by an evening of students singing, dancing, acting, playing instruments, painting and drawing, and talking about filmmaking, photography, printmaking, sculpting and various facets of Wright State\u2019s School of Fine and Performing Arts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of the annual highlights is a silent auction of gift baskets and items that can be viewed in person from 7 to 10:30 p.m. in the Lower Stein Galleries before making bids online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among those items are the two artworks, one with a meaning, the other with a message.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Lite” is an acrylic painting by first-year fine arts major Suvekshya Maharjan.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Lite\u201d \u2013 a term meaning a small portion \u2013 is, as Maharjan said, part of one of her dreams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever I have changes in my life, really good changes, I see bridges in my dreams,\u201d said the native of Nepal, who arrived in the United States a few days before starting classes at Wright State last August. \u201cIt connects to the struggle and pain I\u2019ve been through. The bird is flying. That\u2019s me, being free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being free is not something she felt in Nepal, \u201cwhere a girl especially doesn\u2019t have much rights,\u201d said Maharjan, 19. She said life there is restrictive, with many rules to follow, making it difficult for her to make friends or even venture outdoors.<\/p>\n

She was a teachers\u2019 assistant at a school that prepared Nepalese students to study abroad, where she first heard about Wright State. In her own research, she learned of the university\u2019s strong fine arts program.<\/p>\n

She developed a passion for drawing with crayons and pencils, then in high school with watercolors and tempera. Now, she works with acrylics. \u201cI love this medium,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTexture Non Raffinee\u201d is a ceramic sculpture by junior fine arts major Libby Gephart.<\/p><\/div>\n

The medium favored by Gephart is ceramics. \u201cTexture Non Raffinee\u201d is French for \u201cunrefined texture,\u201d she said. \u201cA vessel is what it is. You can put flowers in it, or nothing. It stands alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for its message, the Kettering resident said, \u201cI thoroughly enjoy texture. I like it when you\u2019re allowed to touch art. I wanted this to be inviting, that you want to reach out and run your fingers across the edges. I wanted to create a piece that you can reach out and touch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArt should feel tangible to everybody,\u201d she added. \u201cArt is for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Art certainly is for Gephart, who is an adjunct instructor in the ceramics department at Stivers School for the Arts in Dayton.<\/p>\n

She is also a self-described nontraditional student, who has worked as a professional photographer for the last 18 years and started a ceramics business after earning an associate degree in art from Sinclair Community College in 2022.<\/p>\n

Realizing she needs a bachelor\u2019s degree to become a full-time instructor, she said, \u201cI saw the path before me, and I know where I need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what brought her to Wright State.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came on a tour here, I felt something was pulling me to be here,\u201d she said. \u201cOther schools wouldn\u2019t give me the same opportunities. I felt like this was a second home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven being a nontraditional-aged student, I have never felt odd or out of place,\u201d Gephart said. \u201cMy instructors have been absolutely phenomenal. Even classes where I\u2019ve taken something similar before, I\u2019ve walked away learning something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about ArtsGala, including ticket levels, sponsorship availability and Maharjan and Gephart\u2019s art at wright.edu\/artsgala<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artwork by two Wright State fine arts students will be up for auction at ArtsGala on April 5 to help raise funds for scholarships for fine and performing arts students. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":157472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,2037,4312,4859,2040,725,747,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-arts-scene","category-artsgala","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-giving","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157461"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157487,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157461\/revisions\/157487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}