LCCTC Students SHINE in Juried Art Show

We the jury find that LCCTC’s Commercial Artists are — FANTASTIC!

It was an exciting month for students in the Commercial Art Program here at LCCTC as students prepared for and entered into the highly competitive and juried Art Exhibition in the Martha Gault Art Gallery at Slippery Rock University.

One of the more challenging aspects of being an artist is putting work on-view for the public whether in an art gallery or as an advertisement or product design where we are reminded of the common expression “everyone is a critic”. It takes courage, resilience, and above all hard work to not only make the artwork but also to prepare it for professional exhibition. Students had to digitally document their pieces for entry and the work selected had to be matted and framed ready for display in the gallery.

With over seven counties represented, twenty-seven school districts and over 300 pieces entered, only sixteen schools and seventy works made the cut; LCCTC was one of those sixteen schools! Five of our artists were accepted into the show displaying seven works of art; artists selected for the show included seniors Alyssa Lamenza and Misty Jones,  Juniors Zoey Galat and Gillian Blount, and sophomore Mackenzie Helle. If that wasn’t enough, good news — the closing reception produced even more for us to be proud of.

As the crowd of over a hundred people enjoyed refreshments and the best student art in western, PA, the room grew silent as the award ceremony began. With only seven awards being given, the stakes were high. Excited, but professionally muted cheers rang out as our very own Zoey Galat was chosen, receiving honorable mention for her acrylic painting titled Dark Red Nightmare.

Zoey states, “I think the SRU show was really beautiful; everything was displayed so nicely. It was enlightening to learn how a professional exhibition is prepared.”

“Slippery Rock is one of the institutions I am considering for a Secondary Degree,” Zoey continues, “so it was especially nice to meet the Dean and Chair of the Art Department to discuss career and degree options.”

Gillian Blount reflects upon her experiences as she states, “It was a pretty good show. I got to meet people who work at SRU in the Art department and see a lot of other students’ artwork which was pretty cool.”

Mackenzie Helle noted, “It was a lot of fun, and there was definitely a lot of nice work. I am very excited to apply again next year.”

Alyssa Lamenza commented, “Just being selected for the show was a big honor, and it was an added bonus that I had my very own wall in the show! I am really glad I made the effort to apply.”

In all, it was a wonderful exhibition, and we can be very proud of all of our students for their hard work and professional performance.

Great job, and keep up the good work!