Holy Cross is well represented at the 18th annual ArtsWorcester College Show, with Crusaders Shea O'Scannlain '22 and Mariam Soas '22 named as two of the four prize winners. The students' artwork is being exhibited in person at ArtsWorcester from Feb. 17 to March 27.
Drawing on the creative strengths of Worcester's colleges and universities, the annual College Show calls for creative submissions from area students in traditional and new media in film, printmaking, photography, paint and digital art. Now in its 18th year, the exhibition recognizes the next generation of regional artists.
The organization received more than 170 submissions this year, with 47 works being selected for display by this year's juror, Jessica Roscio, director and curator at Danforth Art Museum. "The diversity of media and subject were exciting, and many works approached our current anxieties in varied and surprising ways, creating a window into contemporary practice on the college level," said Roscio.
Honorable mentions were also awarded to Caroline Quinn '22, Aldona Casey '24 and Aliyah Coplan '22. Thirteen additional Holy Cross students were invited to exhibit their work in the virtual show, which is on view online through the end of March.
Explore the winning Holy Cross works featured in the show below:
"Fragments of Myself" by Shea O'Scannlain '22
"Fragments of Myself" by Shea O'Scannlain '22. (oil paint on masonite, 48" x 72", 2021)
O'Scannlain '22, an English and studio art double major and one of the prize winners, describes her work as focusing around "ideas of memory and identity drawn from images of family that are abstracted in ways that suggest realistic form while also keeping interpretations open."
"'In Fragments of Myself,' I wanted to take photos from my past and zero in on the smallest moments of them to collectively create a piece that brings on feelings of nostalgia and memory."
"Flying Glitter" by Mariam Soas '22
"Flying Glitter" by Mariam Soas '22. (archival inkjet print, 9" x 12.5", 2021)
Soas '22, a neuroscience major and also a prize winner, says that her work "Flying Glitter" is a photograph that is meant to capture irony in a frozen moment. "The photograph is an image of the subject's inner feelings of loneliness and sadness that she is attempting to cover up with flying glitter as a means of fake happiness."
