Ten seniors worked for two months drawing, sculpting, painting and planning their gallery reception in order to prepare for their senior art exhibit.Mississippi State University students in the fine arts emphasis of the department of architecture, art and design must participate in a bachelor of fine arts exhibit as part of their requirements for graduation.
This semester’s exhibit, “Piece,” features the work of Mark Bains, Christy Chapman, Tina Hebert, Nicholas Henderson, Aaron McElfish, Frances Miller, Lindsey Perkins, Rainey Rogers, McLeod Satterfield and Troy Smith.
The students do 100 percent of the work, from creating the art to planning the reception and the public relations, said senior fine arts coordinator Brent Funderburk.
“They become a working museum in putting this together,” Funderburk said.
The exhibit’s name was chosen by the 10 students to represent how the differences in their works fit together.
“‘Piece’ is about the fact that profoundly dissimilar people can create the most dynamic unity,” Funderburk said. “Each puzzle piece is necessary in our diversity to make the truest picture of humanity [and] complete the puzzle of our chaotic times.”
Ten graduating students is a new record for the department.
“This is the largest BFA graduating class in the department’s history,” art department head Kay Demarsche said.
She said that with the enrollment increases, the department of architecture, art and design has experienced the fourth-largest increase on the MSU campus.
“We’re the largest art program in Mississippi,” Funderburk said. “We’re graduating about 40 a year in graphic design and about 20 in here, which is fine art.”
“Piece” feautres oil paintings, watercolor and wax and pigment paintings, graphic narratives, murals, wood sculptures and photographs.
“They’re expressing exactly who they are in this exhibition,” Funderburk said.
A graphic storyboard entitled, “The Gloaming,” was created by Aaron McElfish. The work was drawn in pieces and covered an entire wall, but was only a third of the actual artwork.
“It was my life for the past two months,” McElfish said. “It was edited down for the sake of everyone else. Mine told a story and this is the entire story edited down.”
While working on his storyboard, McElfish watched movies, read books and referenced pop culture for ideas.
“Everything I did was dedicated to this,” he said.
In another corner of the room, the pastel and charcoal murals of Mark Bains seem to jump off the wall due mostly to the colors and wood supports holding the work.
“It’s pretty evident that all of us put a lot of work into it [our art],” Bains said. “Many hours. I couldn’t count them if I wanted to. I’m glad it’s over and up on the wall.”
Each student had to attend four meetings with three art professors in order to review and critique their work. The fourth meeting took place before the opening of the show, and if students do not pass the meeting, they do not graduate.
Since space in the McComas art gallery is limited, the students had to edit some of their work out of the show.
Amanda Littlejohn, an MSU graduate in the fine arts emphasis of painting, said she enjoyed the way the space was used for the 10 students.
“I graduated last December and there were six people in our show. Sharing space with six people was hard enough,” Littlejohn said.
An opening reception, full of family, friends and professors, was held Nov. 8. Many of the artists and professors were surprised by the attendance.
“I thought there was going to be maybe half that,” Bains said.
Littlejohn said many alumni came back to see students that they considered family while taking classes together.
“My friend Dixie came from Amelia Island, Fla. She just drove here,” Littlejohn said.
The exhibit opened on Nov. 5 and will close Nov. 30. It is being held in the McComas art gallery in the basement of McComas Hall.