Juror's Statement | 43rd Annual Juried UW Student Exhibition

Pam Campanaro, February 2018 

The 43^rd Annual Juried Student Exhibition is an assembly of fifty-six works, representing a diverse, exceptional cohort of students at the University of Wyoming. This exhibition features notable pieces from introductory to advanced courses in a range of disciplines including ceramics, sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography. Collectively, the works on view highlight the exceptional abilities of these emerging artists and provide a glimpse into minds of truly creative, conceptually strong minds. 

The longstanding tradition of an annual student exhibition serves as a celebration of achievement; an endpoint at the culmination of a year’s worth of art, learning, experimentation, and education. In its forty-third year, this year’s show is no exception. The works on view were chosen to reflect those students, currently enrolled in at the University of Wyoming that demonstrate sound technical ability, conceptually strong narratives, and note-worthy promise. As a result, this year’s exhibition showcases artistic styles that fuse traditional skill with contemporary vision. 

As a curator of contemporary art with a specific focus in site-specific/conscious work, selecting pieces that demonstrated a relentless determination to realize one’s vision was at the forefront of my mind when choosing the art on view. It was important within this exhibition to represent a well-rounded variety of mediums, conceptual frameworks, and narratives in an effort to engage all of our senses. By doing so, I hope the viewer also explores how within each work of varying media and form, exists a range of roles an artist can have in today’s society. A clear takeaway from this collaboration with University of Wyoming students is how they illustrate that artists are not only merely observers and recorders, but also activists, innovators, and creative-problem solvers within everyday life.

Congratulations to all students and their supportive instructors on another successful year of creative engagement!

• Pam Campanaro, Guest Juror
  Director + Curator of Galleries, University of Northern Colorado