From March until the first weeks of April, the Department of Art and Design is hosting two different student exhibitions.

The All School Exhibition is on view at the Cabot Gallery and Brick City galleries, located in the Brick City complex. Cabot Gallery hours for this event are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 12-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Brick City Gallery will be open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 12-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The exhibition runs from Feb. 27-April 5. Brick City galleries will also be open during Springfield’s First Friday Art Walk April 3, 6-9 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Annual Juried Student Exhibition is on view at the Carolla Arts Exhibition Center. Carolla Center hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Carolla will be closed April 3-5.

The Annual Juried Student exhibition runs from March 6-April 10.

All School Exhibition

The All School Exhibition is a partnership between the Springfield Art Museum, Springfield Public Schools (SPS) and the art and design department.

The annual show brings together artwork from SPS’s K-12 schools as well as private, parochial and homeschool cooperatives throughout the region.

The exhibition showcases arts education in the community and the role it plays in student learning. The students’ work highlights the creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration that take place every day in area classrooms.

Local arts educators like SPS Arts Coordinator Jessica Wagner and Springfield Art Museum Educator Joshua Best collect and help organize the art by grade level.

The Brick City Gallery displays K-5 student work in the West Gallery, middle and high school student work in the East Gallery, and interactive elements in the Cabot Gallery.

Support for the All School Exhibition is provided by the George and Linda Deatz Family.

Annual Juried Student Exhibition

The Annual Juried Student Exhibition features work by Missouri State’s art and design students. Each fall, the department posts a call for art and collects submissions through a digital entry process. The exhibition is open to all undergraduate and graduate students.

Selected entries highlight the range of approaches, materials and ideas students are exploring in their studio practices. The continued legacy of Mark J. Hall and the Mark J. Hall Best in Show Award, along with other awards recognizing outstanding work, celebrates their efforts.

Juror Collins sees depth and engagement in works

Atlanta-based artist and George Gwinnett College faculty member Alice Stone Collins served as this year’s juror. Jurying took place virtually, allowing Collins to review work across a wide range of media and disciplines.

Collins expected to see traces of AI’s influence on student work. “Instead, I saw the effects of hands,” she said. She described the originality and thought processes she encountered as materializing into “physical labors of care.” The pieces, she added, represented “personal experiences and quiet struggles and self-reflection.”

The works ultimately reflected the depth of personal engagement students brought to their creative practice and “the culmination of willingness and joy,” Collins said.

Photo credits: Mitzi Kirkland-Ives except where otherwise indicated.

News edited by the Reynolds College Communications Team.

Sam Barnette is a writer for the Department of Art and Design. She earned an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Missouri State’s Department of Communication, Media, Journalism and Film. She is now working toward a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Education and Higher Ed Administration from Lindenwood University.