AAHD Undergraduate Juried Exhibition Returns After Two-Year Hiatus

Michigan State University’s Undergraduate Juried Exhibition is back after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibition, which runs through Sunday, May 1, at (SCENE) Metrospace (110 Charles St. in East Lansing), features student work completed as part of Department of Art, Art History, and Design (AAHD) courses.

Graphic with a dark blue background that says "Undergraduate Exhibition"
2022 Undergraduate Exhibition

All Michigan State University undergraduate students, regardless of their major, who enrolled in any AAHD course over the past two years, or from Summer 2020 through Spring 2022, were invited to submit up to three works per any of the following areas: Apparel and Textile Design, Ceramics, Comics Art and Graphic Novels, Drawing, Electronic Art + Intermedia, Graphic Design, Photography, Painting, Printmaking, and Sculpture.

“This exhibition is our chance to celebrate the work of our students with their friends, family, and our community. These students continue a long history preceded by thousands of alumni who have shown in past Undergraduate Exhibitions at MSU.”

Jacquelynn Sullivan, Director of Galleries and Assistant Professor in AAHD

“This exhibition is our chance to celebrate the work of our students with their friends, family, and our community,” said Jacquelynn Sullivan, Director of Galleries and Assistant Professor in AAHD. “These students continue a long history preceded by thousands of alumni who have shown in past Undergraduate Exhibitions at MSU. Centered in a learning environment that values the development of personal vision, critical inquiry, and philosophical reflection, undergraduate students across all disciplines make intellectual and artistic discoveries.”

A statue of multiple objects glued together and an abstract painting
Two pieces of artwork by Abbey Behan, senior Packaging major, who received 2nd Best of Show.

The student work was critiqued by guest juror Shane Darwent, a studio artist who currently is an Artist-in-Residence at the Tulsa Artist Fellowship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Derwent has exhibited internationally and previously served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Bemis Center, Ragdale, the Ucross Foundation, and the Jentel Artist Residency Program as well as a Core Fellow at Penland School of Crafts. He has an MFA from the University of Michigan and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Painting of a person laying in bed
Painting by Marissa Rubaiai, senior Studio Art major.

An opening reception and awards ceremony for the Undergraduate Juried Exhibition was held on April 8 where best of show and honorable mention awards were presented. The winners of those awards are as follows:

Best in Show

Alex Vonhof, Studio Art senior, Alternative Flooring video

2nd Best in Show

Abbey Behan, Packaging senior, A Deconstruction of the Body Through Time, Space, and Involuntary Relationships painting

3rd Best in Show

Taryn Renshaw, Graphic Design senior, Atlantic I — I Miss You sound piece 

Honorable Mentions

  • Maileen Bugnaski, 2021 Studio Art alumna, Intrusions video
  • Zoe Chen, Studio Art senior, Reflections painting
  • Antoinette Davis, Graphic Design senior, Mourning Frankie comic book