Art Grads Install Virtual Exhibit ‘Adjacent’
Twelve Westmont art graduates, unable to exhibit their artwork at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum on campus in May due to COVID-19, are displaying their senior projects virtually. “Adjacent: Westmont Graduate Exhibition 2020” is available in-person at the museum only to the artists and their families by prior appointment. Everyone else can see the exhibition, including a virtual tour, online at westmont.edu/museum/adjacent.
The exhibition celebrates the artwork of Alyssa Beccue, Julianna Carl, Amanda Colacchia, Audrey De Haan, Jessica Galvan, Olivia Kinkelaar, Jordan Marshall, Emily Mata, Noah Terrill, Cara-Celeste Vannortwick, Emma Wade and Ashley Walker.
“This group of students tends to veer away from the conventional in terms of media and message,” says Meagan Stirling, associate professor of art. “They are investigating themes of identity and purpose, relationships and their own faith identities. While largely figurative work, the exhibition includes a diverse representation of media including painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media collage and video.”
Beccue designed the poster image for the exhibition, and her artwork was selected for the cover of the spring 2020 issue of Westmont magazine. Her project, “Interrupted,” is dedicated to the Class of 2020. She says the graduates chose “Adjacent” because it encompassed the sense of ideas and values being presented in conversation with each other. It also spoke to their experience as a senior class creating these works of art.
“We realized a lot of themes centered around some sort of juxtaposition,” Beccue says. “Many of our projects grappled with the feelings of rejection or separation from a group or idea, while others sought to unite and meld concepts into a bigger story. Some more adeptly harmonized with the visual character of ‘Adjacent,’ showing subject matter that held more significance in togetherness than in solitude.
“While not always directly involved in everyone’s projects, we worked alongside each other throughout the whole process: inspiring, encouraging, critiquing, and empathizing with each other in this endeavor that encapsulated the pinnacle of our time as art majors here at Westmont.”
The show is sponsored by Ken Jewesson, a local artist and former head of two prestigious art schools, and his wife, Francie.
