The Annual Student Exhibition for Louisiana Tech University’s School of Art has officially opened and will welcome the public through April 9 in room 103 of the F. Jay Taylor Visual Arts Center. The show, which features award-winning student work created during the school year, is free and open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year’s show was juried by Cristin J. Nunez, assistant director of the Cole Pratt Gallery in New Orleans.  As juror, Nunez selected the award winners and the works that are exhibited.  The exhibition was open to submissions from any undergraduate or graduate student in Louisiana Tech’s School of Art. “The most important criterion for selection was that the student has mature sensibilities,” she said.  Nunez said each submission was judged based on the maturity in its subject matter, color palette and overall aesthetic, whether the artist’s message was communicated well, if the student showed an understanding of materials, and if the time spent planning and producing the work was evident. The exhibition followed a reception and awards ceremony for outstanding student work held March 19.  Before the exhibition reception, Nunez gave a lecture titled, “Gallery Virgins: How to Court Your First Commercial Gallery.” Cash prizes were given during the awards ceremony for best in show and the best work in each of the following categories: communication design, core, photography, studio, and graduate level.  Exhibition organizers said the annual exhibition is one of the School of Art’s most popular and well-attended shows. The award winners and categories were as follows:

• Best of Show: Bachelor of Fine Arts – Rhyan Emery Taylor, Master of Fine Arts – Joli Livaudais
• Best of Core: Elizabeth Lenox
• Best of Communication Design: Chris Harris
• Best of Photography: Johnathan Courter
• Best of Studio: Marguerite Hogue
• Honorable Mention (Red River Paper): Whitney Hicks, Sophia Maras, Casey Parkinson, Peter Hay
• Honorable Mention (The Frame Up): Jessica Van Alstyne.

Written by Lisa Plaisance Leach