The UNI Department of Art is currently presenting the 2020 Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition in a digital-only format due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 50 pieces out of 150 entries were selected for this competitive exhibition. The chosen artwork can be viewed on the UNI Gallery of Art website.

Jared Ledesma, an assistant curator at the Des Moines Art Center (DMAC), was the juror for this year’s competition. Ledesma holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art history from San Francisco State University. According to the exhibition’s webpage, “Prior to his appointment at the Des Moines Art Center, he worked in the painting and sculpture curatorial department at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His first major exhibition for DMAC was ‘Queer Abstraction,’ which opened in June of 2019.”

The 2020 Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition features works created in various mediums, including ceramics, painting, embroidery, woodworking and even videos. The selected pieces were photographed for digital access by collection photographer and UNI alumna Anastasia Parsons.

“Looking Through the Glass,” an oil painting by Tim Wilson, a textiles and apparel major, was one of the pieces chosen by Ledesma. “My work was a landscape painting […] capturing the view of the world through the glass that’s more intense and chaotic,” Wilson said. He also said that he was very honored that his piece was accepted into the show.

12 awards and honorable mentions are given to outstanding works in the annual exhibition. This year’s award winners include: Madelyn Bryan, who won the UNI College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences Merit Award for “Cataracts” (embroidery), Olivia Chapman, who won the UNI Office of the President Merit Award for “Toilet” (inkjet print), Claire Elise, who received the College Hill Arts Festival Merit Award for “Restrained” (ceramic) and the UNI Department of Art Merit Award for “Untitled #2 from the Space Between Series” (inkjet print), Ainsley Harris who received a Juror’s Honorable Mention for “Hearts in the Style of Warhol” (gouache on paper), Kami Lilly, who won the UNI Public Art Incubator Merit Award for “Home Movie” (video), Barbara Lynch, who won the Friends of the UNI Permanent Art Collection and Gallery Merit Award for “Female Energy” (oil on canvas), Brianna L. Pruitt, who won the Friends of the UNI Permanent Art Collection and Gallery Merit Award for “Faces of a Liar” (oil and photo transfers on board), Monica Sanguino, who won the UNI Department of Art Merit Award for “A Place Called Home” (cyanotype on fabric and dirt), Aaron Shaver, who won the UNI Office of the V.P. and Provost Merit Award for “Postlude” (cyanotype triptych), Marissa Shell, who won the UNI Department of Art Merit Award for “Don’t Shoot” (oil on canvas) and Jessica Vazquez, who received a Juror’s Honorable Mention for “Bowling Heads” (oil on canvas).

According to Wilson, the online nature of the 2020 Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition does come with some challenges. Wilson said that it is sometimes difficult to see the finer details of the art, such as brush strokes or pencil marks, and that some of the pieces were cropped on the main page to save room. However, Wilson said that in this digital format, the exhibition is more accessible to everyone.

For more information on the 2020 Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition and to view the show, visit https://gallery.uni.edu/2020-annual-juried-student-art-exhibition.