Annual student exhibition begins Jan. 10

A reception and award ceremony will take place Tuesday, Jan. 11, from 5 to 8 p.m.

In a juried exhibition, art is submitted and pieces to be exhibited are chosen by jurors, said John Farley, Marshall University graduate and director of the Birke Art Gallery. He emphasized the eclectic nature of the show.

“In a great juried exhibition there is a little something to suit everyone’s personal aesthetic,” Farley said. “It is a place one can visit for recognizable, palatable staples; however, the viewer may also encounter something a little less familiar and, in this way, begin to broaden one’s own visual sensibilities.”

Jurors for the 2011 exhibition were Jeff Barnes, president of the Barnes Agency, a full-service marketing, advertising and public relations firm based in Hurricane, W.Va.; and Jenine Culligan, the senior curator at the Huntington Museum of Art.

"It is an honor for me to serve as juror of this year’s Annual Student Juried Exhibition,” Barnes said. "Both the Birke Art Gallery and the Marshall University Department of Art and Design have an outstanding reputation and I enjoyed very much the process of reviewing and evaluating outstanding artistic examples of student work.”

Prior to establishing the Barnes Agency, Barnes worked in an executive marketing capacity in several regional health care systems.

With more than 25 years of experience working in museums, Culligan has organized exhibitions and worked with art from all time periods, a variety of styles and from many countries. Her specialty is American art, from the late 19th century up to contemporary.

“Every year we select two arts professionals with different, complementary areas of expertise from within the Tri-state area to jury the competition,” Farley said.

The Birke Art Gallery is open Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m.