Juror: MSU 1st Annual Juried Student Exhibition | 2022

Carolla Arts Exhibition Center

Juror Statement: It was my honor to jury and select the award winners for this first annual student exhibition at my alma mater. I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the vast talent coming from the art programming that evidently continues to serve students well. I sought to show the best of the breadth and depth of the Missouri State Art Department and also considered how the works would be presented as a whole. While a difficult task to make these selections, I gravitated toward artworks that were thoughtfully communicated, and to those that demonstrated apparent creativity, skill, and dedication.

My Best of Show selection, “Our Tears” by Rick Briggenhorst in collaboration with Shauna Smith, showcases inventiveness all while evoking sentiments that many people over the last couple of years share, making it also incredibly topical in context of our time. Art that is capable of making us feel is the most powerful kind.

The number of works that display remarkable technique and craftsmanship, strong compositions, and creative approaches is also truly impressive. Keeping in mind many of the pieces were assignments, they still uphold as stimulating and imaginative works outside the context of the classroom.

I am sincerely excited for these artworks to have an opportunity to be shown off to the public in this exhibition. I would like to congratulate all the students for their hard work and for their courage to submit. They should be proud of what they have created, and I hope they are encouraged to keep striving to that next level within their art.