Art Museum to Host Five Colleges of Ohio Juried Student Biennial

Perry Obee's (Ohio Wesleyan University) "Can't this wait 'til I'm old?" (oil on canvas) received a Juror's Award at "The Five Colleges of Ohio Juried Student Biennial."

WOOSTER, Ohio - More than 50 works by student artists will be on display when "The Five Colleges of Ohio Juried Student Biennial" comes to The College of Wooster Art Museum in Ebert Art Center (1220 Beall Ave.) Jan. 24 through March 5. The exhibition, which features art by students from Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, and The College of Wooster, showcases their artistic abilities in a professionally juried exhibition. The opening reception and award recognition will take place on Friday, Feb. 10, from 7-9 p.m. There will also be a musical performance by the Wooster student a capella group "A Round of Monkeys" on Thursday, Feb. 16, from 7-8 p.m.

Organized by The College of Wooster Art Museum, the event attracted 186 entries from students at the five schools. Of those works, 56 were selected for the show, and seven were chosen as award winners. Entries included sculpture, prints, drawings, paintings, etchings, photography, and mixed media. Some of the items will be available for sale to the general public.

Juror's Awards will be presented to Denison's Matt Messmer for his woodblock print "Shinjuku Minami Guchi (Shinjuku South Gate)" and Ohio Wesleyan's Perry Obee for his oil on canvas "Can't this wait 'til I'm old?" Merit Awards will go to Denison's Madeline Mohre for her ceramic tile work, "Compose a Life;" Kenyon's Billy Callis for his video, "Ribs, belly, backbone, joints of the backbone...;" Ohio Wesleyan's Stephen Hoskins for his gouache on paper "The secret meeting against the pink flamingos;" and two Wooster students: Emma Powell for her digital photograph, titled "Paris Plage," and Karin Johnson for her wood piece "Basket." Obee and Hoskins also will receive awards sponsored by Ohio Wesleyan, while Callis will receive an award sponsored by Kenyon.

"I was honored to be asked to view all of the work," said Mary Jo Bole, professor of art at The Ohio State University and juror for the exhibition. "A wonderful part of being a juror for young artists is sensing a pulse for what is meaningful to them. I felt the drawing and painting were especially strong."

Bole, who has taught in the ceramic area at Ohio State since 1989, received a B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, and an M.F.A. from the New York College of Ceramics. She has been an artist-in-residence at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wis., the Knust Press in Njimegen, Netherlands, and the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, Calif. Her solo exhibitions include a recent retrospective at the Weston Art Gallery in Cincinnati, the Ann Nathan Gallery and Objects Gallery (both in Chicago), and Gallerija Langas in Vilnius, Lithuania. Bole has received five Ohio Arts Council Individual Fellowship Grants since 1980 and exhibited in a group show at The College of Wooster Art Museum in 1999. Her work is represented in The Shiffler Collection in Cincinnati, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Gustavsberg Factory Collection in Stockholm, The Pushkin Museum in Moscow, and The Getty Museum. She has served as a juror for The Greater Columbus Arts Council, Acme Art Company, and the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts.

The College of Wooster Art Museum, located in Ebert Art Center, consists of two galleries - the Sussel Gallery and the Burton D. Morgan Gallery. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 1-5 p.m. All receptions, lectures, and exhibitions are free and open to the public. Group tours are also available. The 2005-2006 exhibition season is supported, in part, with funds from the Ohio Arts Council.

The final event of the academic year will feature a pair of exhibitions between March 28 and May 14. "Mel Kendrick: Sculpture" will be on display in the Sussel Gallery, and selections from The College of Wooster Art Museum's John Taylor Arms Print Collection will be presented in the Burton D. Morgan Gallery.

For more information, please call 330-263-2495 or visit www.wooster.edu/artmuseum.