(By Russell Peterson, student worker)
Ohio State Mansfield students displayed their unique art pieces for all to see on Monday, April 8, inside the Pearl Conard Art Gallery. This year's annual Student Art Exhibition showcased the work of nearly 80 students and will be on display through April 21.
The majority of the artwork is based on photography, drawings and clay masks. The variety and creativity of the art pieces were made possible with the guidance of two talented art teachers, John Thrasher and Kate Shannon.
Thrasher teaches drawing and ceramics. Thanks to him, students learned how to make 3-D drawings, clay masks, pottery, sculptures, etc. Shannon was able to teach students how to execute their photos correctly, make pictures unique to themselves, how to make their photography stand out and more.
Thrasher expressed his gratitude for the students. “People ask me where I find inspiration. I find inspiration from the students,” Thrasher said. “I like seeing them build their own skill set, so that they can witness their own progress and surprise themselves with what they made.”
Shannon believes that when it comes to photography, there’s always more to learn and more to explore. “I like seeing all the different ways students interpret photography. To see how they creatively use a camera is really inspiring to me,” Shannon said. “They come up with ways to use photography that I haven't thought of before.”
The students' artworks were selected from different projects that they completed over the semester. Both Thrasher and Shannon narrowed the art pieces from all of their students, to the 77 they felt stood out the most.
“The students completed many art projects over the course of the spring semester; the selected student artworks were unique to the artists, visually interesting, and stood out for a variety of reasons,” Shannon stated.
The tradition dates back to around the opening of the Pearl Conard Art Gallery in 1985.
The student art will be on display through April 21 and possibly over the summer until the start of the fall semester. The art gallery is located in Conard Hall, and is open most weekdays of the semester.