NEWS

The work of current graduating seniors of Louisiana Tech’s Studio Art program will be part of a new exhibition called “Fresh Produce” beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, in the Big Room Gallery at 135 Art Alley in Monroe.

At 6:30, five artists will give short talks on their respective work.

The show is called “Fresh Produce” because it features some of the fruits of the artists’ labor. The artists are a conglomerate working with a diverse range of medium and themes, from found objects and drawing paper to social change and spirituality.

“The seniors at Louisiana Tech liken their current status as emerging artists to produce in the grocery aisle,” said senior Akeylah Wellington, who came to Tech from Caddo Parish Magnet High in Shreveport. “Excluding the register, the fresh produce section is arguably the part of the grocery store which sees the most foot traffic, and the visual image of buyers in a grocery store is not unlike people looking at new art in a gallery. 

“Because this is a group show between 15 artists with their own unique approaches to aesthetic and concept, planning for ‘Fresh Produce’ necessitates considerable cooperation to produce a unified show,” she said. “Thus, the artists are acting as a conglomerate, where the definition of conglomerate is the collection of different entities grouped or put together to form a whole while remaining distinct.”

Wellington, who wants to become a working artist before someday teaching at a university, said the biggest surprise in her journey through the Studio Art program is “the way the foundations classes become better skilled with each passing year.”

“Many of us enter the program knowing how to draw,” she said. “By the end of the first year, we have experience in printmaking, digital fabrication, and a whole host of other skills we can then choose to refine. I would recommend the program to others who wish to learn how to make art in a small community. Ruston is a wonderful place to quietly develop a studio practice.”

Wellington chose Studio Art as her major, she said, “because I like to problem solve. Studio art allows me to develop a diverse, niche set of skills which can be expanded further over my lifetime.” 

Along with Wellington, Tech artists participating in the exhibit include Drew Albritton, Maddie Dearman, Noel Elias, Ashley English, Michaela Franklin, Destin Hall, Nick Hobbs, David Huston, Shawn Igou, Camellia Jiles, Skylar Taylor, ​Miranda Weddleton, Claire White, and Ben Wreyford,

The exhibit runs through February.

Tech’s Studio Art program is in the School of Design in the University’s College of Liberal Arts. For more information, contact the School of Design, 318.257.3909.