Student Work on Display at Second Annual Juried College Art Show

The artwork of seven Holy Cross students has been selected for the second Worcester Consortium College Art Show hosted by ARTSWorcester, a community-based arts organization, at its gallery at the Aurora.

The show, which runs from Feb. 24 through March 31, features about 45 works produced in the art departments of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, including Anna Maria College, Assumption College, Clark University, Quinsigamond Community College and Worcester State College. The annual event was started last year by Catherine Wilcox-Titus, a member of ARTSWorcester’s gallery committee and art history professor at Worcester State, to provide a venue for student artwork.

Among the two award winners is Mary Martin ’06, who received the second prize this year for her painting "Sunday," which she produced during spring semester 2005 for visiting lecturer Steve Locke’s Experiential Painting course. The first prize winner is Jessica Kingston of Assumption College for her painting titled "Sweet November."

"The story behind Sunday is funny because the painting actually began completely different," says Martin. "I originally wanted to portray the movements of someone who is having difficulty trying to sleep. After struggling with how I wanted to set up my composition, I just started taking photos of myself. I ended up taking a picture of my feet while I was laying on the futon, and when I saw the picture I thought it would make an interesting ‘self portrait’ so I tried it and was happy with the results!"

"I am so excited and honored that my painting was chosen to be in the ARTSWorcester show. I only started painting when I came to Holy Cross and it has really become something very challenging to me but also something I enjoy doing. To get an award is not only an honor but a confirmation that I should continue to paint and build on the skills and ideas that I’ve had in the past."

Michael Beatty, chair of the visual arts department who helped Dr. Wilcox-Titus organize the show, says the annual event is valuable for several reasons.

"It’s important to providing dialogue and a way of sharing student artwork with the wider Worcester community," he says. "It also allows Consortium students to see what each other are doing."

Judges Randi Hopkins, co-director of Boston’s Allston Skirt Gallery, and Susan Stoops, curator of contemporary art at Worcester Art Museum, chose 45 pieces out of 175 works entered for the show. The remaining works selected from Holy Cross are: Amy Archambault ’08 for her painting titled "I Heard It Was A Nice Day Outside;" Kerry Flanagan ’06, painting, "Organic Depths;" Kasandra Gonzalez ’06, 3-D sculpture, "Couch with Beatty;" Justine Hill ’08, mixed media, "The Great Wave;" Leslie Mignin ’06, painting, "In Between" and Lucy Sweeney ’08, painting, "One Big Airbrushed Lie."

An opening reception will be held at the Aurora, 660 Main St., Worcester, on Feb. 24 from 6 to 9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The hours at the Aurora are Tuesday and Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.