As a tradition of Allegheny College, Doane Prizes in Art has been given to students’ art works annually. Awards in painting and drawing, graphics, sculpture or ceramics and Juror’s Prize are offered through the generosity of the late Foster B. Doane, a former Allegheny trustee.

Juror’s Prize is selected by a guest juror every year. This year, Cynthia Hawkins, art professor and gallery director at SUNY Genesseo, will determine which works to present in the art show.

All students were encouraged to submit their work. Darren Miller, assistant professor of art and gallery director, communicated with faculty and students in different departments as well as posted call for submissions on MyAllegheny. Submissions were accepted in the art galleries on March 23 and March 24 from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

“If you just want to enter an art work in the show, you make a general entry,” said Miller. “Or if you have a body of work, like ten paintings that are all about one idea, then you can enter them as a Doane Prize.”

Students who work as gallery assistants help organize and guide the entry of art works. “We install and handle the art works and facilitate gallery openings. We also give people information about the gallery shows”, said Janos Cseh, ’15.

This student art show, as a juried exhibition, is different than other curated exhibitions. Submitted works are displayed on the floor awaiting for the judges and accepted works will be hang up on the walls as regular gallery shows. Works not chosen for the exhibition will be presented at the “Salon des Refusés” in the hallways outside the galleries.

Miller emphasizes that rejection is part of the practice and students shouldn’t take it personally.

“Sometimes, very excellent work is rejected because it may or may not fit with the broader theme of the work that’s shown in the gallery”, said Miller. “So the juror’s job is not just to accept the excellent work, but to think about how it is all going to look together, how are the different pieces and what they communicate going to flow as the viewer walks through the gallery.”

Jaysa Alvarez, ’15, submitted paintings, sculptures, photographs, performance art work and computer art.

“Mostly I work around loss. Sometimes it’s about the feeling of losing something. That’s the most cohesive theme,” said Alvarez. “I don’t really stick to a medium generally, although I think most of my work is sculptural.”

Since her sophomore year, Alvarez has been submitting works for the student art show. She believes the show addresses a sense of community. “It’s interesting to have people come around and look at your work and tell you what they think of it,” said Alvarez.

“This is the way that art is professionally practiced,” said Miller. “So this gives students a real opportunity to do more than just to make the art work, but to also put the art work in some sort of context that reviews can interact with it. If you never display the artwork, then it never really goes beyond being a kind of exercise. Without an audience, it’s questionable whether art exists.”

Hawkins and faculty of art department started viewing and judging submissions for Doane Awards on Wednesday, March 25. Doane Prizes will be announced at the opening reception on March 31 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Winners will receive cash awards and books that are significant publications within the field of studio art. All accepted works will be displayed in the galleries from Tuesday, March 31 to Sunday, April 12, 2015.