In order to celebrate exciting artwork on the Mississippi State
University campus, the opening reception for the 31st Annual MSU
Art and Design Competitive Exhibition took place Thursday night in
the Department of Art Gallery in McComas Hall.
The Art and Design competition has taken place since art became
a major at MSU. The competition has grown very competitive over the
years. According to MSU gallery director, Alex Stelioes-Wills, this
year’s competition had so many quality entries that they accepted
more entries than usual for consideration.
“Out of over 400 entries, we accepted 120 for consideration,”
Stelioes-Wills said. “That may not sound like a lot, but we usually
only consider 100. There were too many good entries for us to
unfairly cut some out just because we were trying to reach some
specific number.”
Sarah Montgomery, graphic designer at the Ramey agency in
Jackson, judged the graphic design entries and Jeffrey Lewis,
professor of painting at Auburn University, selected the fine arts
entries. Both of the judges were selected based on their well-known
reputations as artists and knowledge of art in general.
Lewis came to Starkville on Thursday to reward the winners in
person. He also gave a slide show on some of his own work. A number
of permanent collections have included his work, including the
College of William and Mary. He has exhibited his work both
nationally and internationally and has received many awards and
fellowships, including the Pouch Cove Foundation Residency, an
elite fellowship in Canada. The artist who receives the fellowship
earns the right to work on his art without any distractions on top
of being supported financially by the college.
The competition is open to any MSU student who has completed an
art course in the previous two years. Although most of the artists
who submitted art for the competition major in art, some winners in
the past have majored in other areas.
“Last year, a non-art major won two awards,” Stelioes-Wills
said. “Participating in this contest does not mean that you have to
be an art major. We want the entire campus to take part.”