BY: BEATRICE JOHNSON
Staff Writer
On April 18, the Meramec campus hosted the award ceremony, which marked the beginning of the Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition. This exhibition highlights works in studio arts, design, and digital media created by STLCC Meramec students.
Dante Siebova was one of the artists awarded during this ceremony, receiving first place in the applied arts category for her “Gravity Falls Inktober Art Book.” Siebova had several works featured in the exhibition of various media, including sculpture, stained glass, and digital art.
“Inktober” is a challenge where you draw every day of October, with a new prompt for every day, says Siebova. “I decided to come up with my own prompts based on the TV show Gravity Falls since the new book was just released,” she says.
The book has hidden messages that can be seen in UV light. “There are easter eggs and mysteries incorporated into my work. I think this was the best project I’ve made because it’s really complicated and intricate, and I managed to execute it within a month,” Siebova says.
Siebova says this award made her feel like she was on the right track. “I feel like I can say my work pays off, and the people that surround me and motivate me to push myself forward get to see me grow,” she says, “I encourage people to share their artistic experience because you never know what opportunities await you.”
Em Aguinaga was another artist who was featured in the exhibition. Aguinaga had two pieces featured in the art gallery, a sculpture and a drawing. “I’d like people to take away from my drawing that the subject is a person, not just representationally, but also physically. You talk to these people after class, and they’re not just a subject to you paint, but also a person you get to know and represent,” they say.
Danny Bess, Secretary of the Design, Visual, and Performing Arts departments, says the event is one of the largest events held on the Meramec campus. “The theater seats 370 people, and we brought 350 in, which doesn’t even include the staff and the workers. If we used the theater, we would be at max capacity.”
Jurors are invited from various schools throughout the area to choose artwork. The gallery had about 450 submissions and of those, 200 were selected, says Bess, “that room isn’t built for that much artwork, so not only did we have so many people, but we had so much artwork, we had to use the glass cases outside of the gallery to house more artwork.”
