One of the largest shows in the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Art Society Art Show’s 17-year history has been hanging silently in the J.W. Martin Library on the Alva campus for weeks with only a handful of students and employees able to enjoy it since COVID-19 interrupted everyone’s lives in March.
The art was up for a week and judged just before leaving for spring break, but because of the virus and the need to keep everyone safe, classes started using alternative instructional delivery methods, and the majority of students aren’t on campus. Though the library has remained open through the week, it was only open to students and employees so community members weren’t able to visit the show.
So, the show was taken online.
A photograph of each piece is normally taken and put into a photo gallery each year and shared following the show, but this year those photos were added to an album on the club’s Facebook page where viewers were asked to “like” their favorite pieces to help determine the annual People’s Choice award.
“We had a week’s worth of votes when we left for spring break,” Angelia Case, NAS sponsor, said. “We thought about how we could bring the show to the public to give this artwork the audience it deserved, so we took it to Facebook. We’ll be determining a People’s Choice winner from the likes and adding them to the votes we received in the library.”
Student entries reached 205 pieces this year along with 160 from employees, retired employees and alumni. Student prize money reached $739. Most of that money for the winning art is raised by club members during various fundraising activities throughout the school year with $250 provided by the Student Government Association as a co-sponsor.
“Although photos on Facebook is not a perfect solution to view the artwork, at least people can see it if they would like to,” Case said.
Photos of the artwork also may be viewed on the club’s Shutterfly gallery at https://nwosuartsocietyphotos.shutterfly.com/6655.
They can see the artwork of Angela Egger, Williamsville, Illinois, freshman, whose charcoal drawing titled “Gin” won Best of Show on the student side.
They can see the landscape photograph submitted by Valarie Case, a university relations specialist at Northwestern, titled “A Stormy Alva Harvest” that won Best of Show on the non-student side.
And, they can see all the other winning pieces of artwork complete with ribbons and many others that were just as deserving of a prize.
Little by little the show grows smaller as the artists come to retrieve their work from the panels as it was all scheduled to come down at the end of March. Winning pieces were to be displayed at a show at the Runnymede on April 3, but all that was canceled.
Case said any remaining artwork will be removed at the end of April and will be stored until artists are able to arrange pick up artwork and prize money.
Artists with questions should contact Case at arcase@nwosu.edu.
“We know it’s a weird time right now, but we just want our artists to know how much we truly appreciate them,” Case said. “We wouldn’t have a show at all without the pieces they enter. Sometimes we get close to that entry deadline date and wonder if we’re going to have a show at all, but entries always seem to come through at the last minute, and boy they did this year. It’s almost a record year for entries, and I wish more people could have seen it. There were so many great pieces.
“Just remember, we hope to do this art show again next spring, so there is a whole year now to get ready.”
To see the entire list of winners for this year’s show, visit www.www.nwosu.edu/art/nas-art-show.
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