By Zach McKay
The reception for the 33rd Annual Juried Student Exhibition was held on Friday, March 11. The jurors were Amanda and Brian Oglesbee, a local artist couple whose work was displayed in the Ortlip Gallery this past Fall 2021. The work displayed in this year’s Juried Show was incredibly varied, spanning medium and scale.
This year’s Best in Show piece was wandering soul, i remember everything, a gouache portrait diptych by Mary Hannah Kennedy (‘22). The first-place piece was The Shrill, a non-objective oil painting by Sarah Mertzlufft (‘22). The second-place piece was Even the Weeds, a watercolor landscape by Ellie Kettinger. The third-place piece was Quarantine Big Dude, an organic sculptural piece by Alyssa Lyon (‘23). The Roselyn Danner Memorial Honorable Mention Awards were given to Kimberlyn Brocht (‘22) for Index and Rebecca Haro (‘24) for Hannah. Jessie-Fay Abbott (‘22) received the President’s Choice Award for Glass Portrait. The two Juror’s Choice Awards were presented to Brocht for her cyanotypes, Untitled, and Zach McKay (‘22) for his watercolor painting, CAT.
This year, the jurors also introduced a few new awards. Hayden Williamson’s (‘23) ceramic piece, Hugo, was given the Whitley Lewis Choice Award and the Noah Hodgkins Memorial Award was bestowed to Fortezza Albornoz, a large conté landscape drawing by Kennedy (‘22).
According to gallery assistant Sarah Mertzlufft (‘22), this year’s student show had 83 submissions, “more than the juried show has seen in years.” Because of this, the jurors were forced to be highly selective, but they were impressed by the range and quality of Houghton College students and their artwork. The Juried Show will remain open in the Ortlip Gallery until April 2nd. It will be followed by the 2022 Senior Show, which will open to the public on April 11. ★
