VCU news

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts’ Anderson Gallery is hosting its annual series of student exhibitions through May 18.

The four annual exhibitions include the Juried Design Exhibition and the Juried Kinetic Imaging Exhibition, which were held simultaneously between March 21 and March 30, and the Juried Fine Arts Exhibition (April 11-20) and the two-part Master of Fine Arts Exhibition (April 25-May 4 and May 9-18).

Each exhibition is free and open to the public. The Anderson Gallery is located at 907 1/2 W. Franklin St. on the VCU campus. Operating hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The juror for the Juried Student Fine Arts Exhibition, which is now in its 36th year, will be celebrated artist Beverly Semmes, known for her monumental sculptures and her smaller fabric creations. Semmes will select a variety of paintings, prints, sculptures, site-specific installations, drawings, crafts, photography and video, choosing from the best work of undergraduate students currently enrolled in studio classes in the School of the Arts. The opening reception for the exhibition is April 11 at 5 p.m.

The Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition is the final requirement for students earning a master’s degree in the fine arts and design departments at VCU. Each of the participating artists will exhibit work that represents the culmination of their two-year masters program in painting and printmaking, sculpture and extended media, communication arts, crafts/material studies, photography and film and interior design.

“These exhibitions provide an excellent opportunity for viewers to invest in up-and-coming artists, as many of the pieces on view will be available for purchase,” said Amy Moorefield, assistant director of the Anderson Gallery and curator of collections.

The opening reception for part one of the MFA exhibition is April 25 at 5 p.m., and the opening reception for part two is May 9 at 5 p.m.

Some MFA candidates will be exhibiting their thesis work off-campus. Among them, graphics MFA candidates Can Birand, Christine Coffey, Ann Ford, Bizhan Khodabandeh, Will Pinholster and Andrea Quam will be showing their work on the first floor of the new Main Street Building at 1509 W. Main St., opening with a reception on May 4 at 7 p.m. The show will be on view through May 8. MFA Sculpture + Extended Media candidates Sami Ben Larbi, Lily Cox-Richard, David Grainger and Eli Kessler will exhibit their thesis work in an annex exhibition at 209 N. Foushee St. May 2 through May 18. Opening receptions will be held on May 2 at 6 p.m. and on May 9 at 7 p.m.

The Juried Design Exhibition and the Juried Kinetic Imaging Exhibition were held concurrently with the 37th Annual Southern Graphics Council Conference, which was hosted by the VCUarts Department of Painting and Printmaking March 26-29.

The design exhibition embraced the Southern Graphic Council’s concept of replication, reproduction, multiplication and distribution, featuring student work from VCU School of the Arts in Qatar and from the VCU School of the Arts departments of Communication Arts, Fashion Design and Interior Design. Student work was selected by faculty members.

The kinetic imaging exhibition featured an independent juror, Meredith Johnson, curator and producer of the consulting program at Creative Time, a New York organization that works with artists on projects that enliven public spaces by exploring ideas that shape society.