campus events

Colby-Sawyer College Presents Juried Student Art Exhibition

NEW LONDON, N.H., March 5, 2007 – The Colby-Sawyer College Department of Fine and Performing Arts will host its annual Juried Student Exhibition, featuring recent work by students in painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, photography and graphic design.

The exhibition will open on Thursday, March 8, at the Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery, with a closing reception and awards presentation held on Thursday, April 5, from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is free and open to everyone; refreshments will be served.

The Juried Student Exhibition is one of the college's most anticipated events of the year, with hundreds of creative works on display and dozens of awards presented by alumni, friends and local individuals and businesses.

The exhibition is open to all student artists on campus, who submit their work in accordance with rules similar to those of a professional exhibition. Students submit six pieces of work, which they must present in a professional manner. Art faculty members serve as jurors for the show.

“It's always exciting to see the 'best of' results of a year's worth of work by our students,” says Rebekah Tolley, gallery director and assistant professor of Fine and Performing Arts at Colby-Sawyer. “Students are careful to select entries that represent their best works, and professors are careful to select the kinds of works they want to encourage.”

Exceptional student art work is eligible for prizes. These awards include three scholarships: the Edith B. Long Memorial Scholarship, the Charlotte Cobb Stahl Memorial Scholarship, and the Nancy Pierce Williams Scholarship. Many other prizes will be awarded, including gift certificates donated by area businesses and restaurants, as well as art supplies from local businesses and supporters.

Sarah Ferry, a senior studio art major with a concentration in painting, has shown her work in the Juried Student Exhibition for the last three years. This year she will enter a watercolor painting that she was commissioned to do by the college's Business Office. “Watercolor is my main medium and where my passion lies,” Ferry explains. “I have been painting non-stop, which helps to keep my mind open and the ideas flowing.”

“The juried exhibition is a great opportunity for students to take pride in their art work and to see how others respond to it, according to Ferry. “It's always great to get feedback, whether it's praise or constructive criticism,” she says. “There is nothing more gratifying or flattering than someone approaching you to buy it!”

Ferry says her work has “evolved immensely” in the past year, and so have her goals as an artist. “My goals are to be true to myself,” she says. I want to paint subjects that are interesting and engage the viewer, but I want to keep it personal. I want the viewer to relate to my pieces and wonder why or how I painted what I did.”

Visitors can view Ferry's work and that of more than 50 other student artists through April 5, 2007. To learn more about Colby-Sawyer's Art Program, visit www.colby.sawyer.edu/academic/art


Colby-Sawyer, founded in 1837, is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in the scenic Lake Sunapee Region of central New Hampshire. Our students learn in small classes through a select array of programs that integrate the liberal arts and sciences with pre-professional experience.

Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main Street, New London, N.H. 03257 (603) 526-3000 (phone)