By Jenna Frisby | Social Media Editor
The Baylor Art Student Exhibit at the Martin Museum of Art will showcase a variety of selected pieces from Baylor art students, ranging from photography to printmaking. Students can attend the upcoming exhibition from March 18-April 1, in-person or virtually.
Colleyville senior Alyssa McCarn’s work has been selected for the second time while at Baylor. Her print, titled “Sorry, We’re Closed,” is a submission stemming from a larger photography project that she said was strong enough to stand on its own.
“It’s part of a bigger five-part series called ‘Still Here,’ that focuses on places that have that childhood magic. I shot a playground, a mall, a movie theatre, places that are indicators of freedom when you’re a kid,” McCarn said. “Especially with the pandemic, everywhere sort of lost that magic because it was no longer safe to go to those places.”
Selection for the museum is very competitive. Students can submit up to four pieces from within the past year in hopes of being selected by the independent juror. Due to COVID-19, students submitted their art virtually this year. So the juror had to select the top pieces without having the physical submission in front of them.
“You could either get your pieces photographed through the museum or do it yourself,” McCarn said. “You did have to make sure you shoot with even lighting and everything so the juror had a clear sense of what you were submitting.”
Chesapeake, VA senior Amanda Smith was selected for this year’s show, as well as the 2020 art show that was held virtually due to the pandemic. This year’s showcase marks her debut in a physical art gallery.
“This will be the first time I have anything hanging up in a gallery at all since last year was just online. The experience is really exciting,” Smith said.
Smith said her selected printmaking piece demonstrates the conceptual skills the art department strives to instill in their art students.
“I was using the motif of flowers and a garden aspect to show God’s hand in my life,” Smith said. “God is this invisible gardener and I’m the garden.”
Coppell senior Kristin Boyer, fellow printmaking student, has two pieces in this year’s show. Boyer has been selected for the show four years in a row. She appreciates the hybrid showcase option the museum is offering this year.
“Last year it was totally online, and it sort of felt underwhelming because we didn’t get to have an opening premiere. I do like it now that they are doing it in-person and also online, so my relatives and friends who can’t come to Waco can look at the show,” Boyer said.
Boyer said she was able to use the pandemic to create one of her pieces that was selected for this year’s show, which demonstrates her creative ability.
“We weren’t able to do welding during COVID and we had to do stuff at home, so we did these wire sculptures. For our texture project, we had to put something on it, so I tore up Pokémon cards, soaked them in ink water and then applied them onto the cat sculpture.”
Boyer said she is excited for people to see all of the work students have created and is proud to have her art showcased as well.
After a year of hard work, Smith said she is looking forward to sharing what she’s been working on with her friends and family.
“It’s really exciting to have a piece in the show this year that I can frame, put up and go look at it with my friends in the gallery,” Smith said.
