Student creations including photography, art, videos and sculptures will fill the gallery space on Ohio State’s campus beginning next week.
The 21st Annual Fergus Scholarship Exhibition opens in the Hopkins Hall Gallery on Monday and runs through March 6.
Graduate and undergraduate students from studio-based, visual art and design majors can enter the competition, according to the College of Arts and Sciences website.
The winners are selected by a jury panel of five faculty members from the departments of art, design and arts administration, education and policy, said Valarie Williams, executive director of OSU’s Arts Initiative, which aims to bring arts into the community.
This year, more than 100 students submitted more than 600 pieces for the exhibit, Williams said.
According to the application, students submit between four and six pieces for judging.
Williams said that all art mediums can be submitted for the competition.
“We have some video pieces this year, we have found object sculptures, we have glass pieces, painting, photography … so it pretty much covers the full gamut,” she said.
The winning students not only get the chance to have their work in the exhibition but also receive a $1,000 stipend, according to the College of Arts and Sciences website.
Williams said the Edith Fergus Gilmore Materials and Scholarship Fund was established in 1971 by Robert, John and Elizabeth Fergus to honor their mother and mother-in-law, and that John and Elizabeth Fergus’ daughter, Elizabeth Fergus-Jean, will be at the Fergus Scholarship Reception honoring the recipients on March 1 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“She and her family come and participate in the reception and hand out the different awards to the students,” she said.
Jessica Naples, a second-year graduate student in art with a concentration in photography, is one of the recipients and has two pieces in the exhibition. She said she has been working on her pieces for a while now.
“My submission was actually a variety of different things that I’ve been working on from the past year,” she said.
Leah Lynn, a fifth-year in fine arts and industrial design, also has two pieces in the show. Both are glass pieces from a series she titled “The Sketchbook Series,” which she said was inspired by “not overthinking it.”
Naples and Lynn both said it was their first time applying for the scholarship. Lynn said her work was what ultimately motivated her to apply this year.
“It definitely came down to me being proud of what I made and wanting to submit it, and seeing if it could be … in a show along with other work that I’d really like to look at,” she said.
Lynn said that for her, the most exciting aspect of winning the award was being acknowledged for work she’s proud of.
“It’s nice just to get recognition for a body of work that I’m really excited about,” she said.
The Hopkins Hall Gallery is located at 128 N. Oval Mall.
