SoFA students showcase ceramics, digital art, photos

Students of the Master of Fine Arts art program displayed their artwork to a crowd of more than 300 students, professors and art connoisseurs Friday in a show at the School of Fine Arts Gallery. Mediums ranged from oil paintings to graphic design to ceramics. \nBetsy Stirratt, director of the SoFA Gallery since 1987, said the show improves every year. \n“The shows are starting to look more professional in terms of presentation and the students’ art,” she said. “It’s starting to look more like a professional art show.”\nUpon entering the gallery, the first pieces visible were the graphic design pieces. Digital prints were strewn across the wall along with inkjet prints and letterpresses, which are pieces created with an old-fashioned printing press with moveable type. \nOne piece, printed on a letterpress by graduate student Lacy Kelly boasted a graphic design slogan on its front.\n“Art is the concept of the visual mind. It is concerned with images and not ideas,” it read. \nInkjet-printed advertisements for the American Civil Liberties Union and American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children were also among the designs.\nThe area with the ceramic pieces had the highest traffic. Everything from vases and cups to ceramic heads on top of drawers were on display. \nAnnie Campbell’s ceramic piece, titled “Meltdown,” resembled twisted and gnarled wood mixed with rusted chains.\nSenior Brian Stutsman had two pieces on display in the show. Both of them were cups but with a strange shape and look to them.\n“I was looking for a different way to make art suitable for an art gallery but that also had a use,” Stutsman said.\nThe painting portion of the gallery was the biggest and had the most number of pieces in it. Sophomore Nick Stange said the painting section was the most inspiring part of the gallery. \n“It was definitely a great show and a fine environment,” he said.\nStirratt said the show attracted a crowd. \n“When a diverse array of artists are showing their work at a show such as this, different crowds of people come out to view them,” \nStirratt said. \nThe pieces from the show will remain on display through Jan. 19 in the SoFA Gallery.