The Senior Thesis Exhibition is a requirement for seniors working on their Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). All students can submit up to 10 pieces to the Art and Art History committee for the exhibition. The concentration is on photography, printmaking, sculpture and painting. Each senior will have at least one piece in the show.
The exhibition will be open to the public on April 14 through April 20. On opening day students will be available so viewers can ask questions and give feedback.
“The exhibition is a capstone activity for BFA students in Art and Art History required to participate as a condition to get their degree. We currently have 31 participants,” Chair and Professor of the Art and Art History Department Glen Cebulash said.
“This is largely a student run production that starts at the beginning of the school year,” Cebulash said. “Faculty advisors meet with students who want to be in it and those students break up into committees to raise money, advertise and the reception preparations.”
According to Cebulash, students’ work is judged as a group decision, and is always based on quality. The work is juried four weeks before the exhibition. Normally students have anywhere from one to five pieces submitted in the show. On opening day there is expected to be 200 to 300 people and most of that is family and friends.
“I’m really excited to see all my friends and family and have fun. It’s a chance for me to show them everything I’ve worked for in the last four years hanging on the walls,” senior Megan Spencer said. “I would tell all juniors to start working early and go to this year’s show so that you know what to expect.”
“I hope that this show continues to provide a showcase of the highest quality of student work in the Miami Valley. We are proud of our students and want to show their achievements,” Cebulash said.
Cebulash said the show has changed over the years because enrollment has increased and the show has gotten larger. New faculty also has an impact on student work because they decide what will be in the show as well as the methods they teach and how they grade the students. The emphasis of the show has also slightly changed from just doing it to graduate to encouraging students at earlier stages to think more cohesively as art students, and select work that examines their interests instead of work for a project in their classes.
“We don’t reject anybody. It’s just more or less of their work depending on the quality. This show is geared toward preparing students for the professional art world,” Cebulash said. “They need to have experience selecting work and going through an evaluation process. It’s very common in the art world.”
