By Tyrone Greenfield

Last Friday, May 6, the Art Department opened the 2011 Student Art Salon in the Faulconer Gallery and presented awards for selected works. The opening was marked by impressive artwork, the evidence of a rigorous selection process and an unplanned outbreak of guerrilla art.
As always, a guest juror selected the works for the Student Art Salon. This year, Gilbert Vicario, the senior curator at the Des Moines Arts Center, chose from and judged an unusually large number of student submissions. Vicario judged an impressive 142 submissions from 68 artists, according to Jon Garrey ’11, a member of the Art Department SEPC that helped to organize the event. However, some student artists expressed their wishes that more pieces could have been included.
“The space looks really bare,” said Clint Williamson ’13, whose untitled series of prints was selected for the salon. “There’s a few big works, but the amount of white space in Faulconer makes everything look so small.”
SGA and the Department of Student Affairs awarded prizes to several pieces, which they selected to purchase for display. Que Newbill ’11.5 won for his photograph, “People and Movement: City Eye,” and Evan Hockett ’12 won for his oil and ink painting, “MF DOOM.” Michael Sims, Director of Campus Center Operations and Student Activities, presented awards to Allison Jamieson-Lucy and Juanes Jervis Aguirre.
Associate Professor Matthew Kluber, Art, presented awards to the third-year and fourth-year students who had submitted the strongest portfolios. The winners were Danica Radoshevich ’12 and Gregory Uyeda ’11. Professor Susan Strauber, Art, then announced that Katie Hawley won the Art History Award.
Garrey announced the remaining awards, selected by Vicario. The Tammy Zywicki ’93 Memorial Prize for Photography went to Andy Delany ’13, for an untitled series of gelatin silver photographs, and the Louis Glenn Zirkle Memorial Prize for Sculpture was awarded to Nic Wilson ’12 for his installation, “Free Bradley Weiwei.” The Juror’s Merit Henely Awards were presented to Lauren Flynn ’12, for “Evidence Utensil on Twinings Prince of Wales,” Evan Hockett ’12, for “MF DOOM,” Johanna Murray ’12, for “Are You Okay?” and Grace Withmory ’13, for “Musical Suite.”
Finally, Wilson won the Henely Best in Show for his piece, “COC Pool Party Pizza.” The 3:12 long audiovisual piece sampled video footage from the films “El Topo,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Raising Arizona,” as well as music from Biz Markie, all heavily obscured with pixelation and expertly-produced fades between clips.
“I made it right after the Salon last year,” Wilson said. “The thematic leads tie together by the idea of frontiers, whether in the Wild West or space, or the driving audio.”
Following the awards ceremony, Milton Severe, Director of Exhibition Design at the Faulconer Gallery, pointed out two leaflets that had been posted surreptitiously in the Salon at some point during the opening. The pages showed a Photoshopped image of a tattooed penis resembling a mermaid, bearing Ronald Reagan’s face.
“I thought it was hilarious,” Severe said. “Highly amusing and easily remedied.” Tilly Woodward, the Gallery’s Curator of Academic and Public Outreach agreed.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Woodward said. Since the Salon’s opening, the pieces have been moved to the lobby outside Faulconer.
The Student Art Salon will run in the Faulconer Gallery until May 23.