An upcoming art exhibit hopes to demonstrate that the potential for students’ art is more than a blank canvas. Beginning Nov. 4, the Ogden Museum of Contemporary Art is putting on an exhibit featuring students’ work in the Kimball Arts Center gallery.
OMOCA aims to expose the local community to the artwork of students and other young artists.
“This is going to be the first of several shows,” said Elizabeth Hovley, Weber State student and public relations officer for OMOCA. “Our team this year is very committed to having new artists get more involved in the art scene. This is kind of the introduction that we want to have throughout the year.”
The theme of this exhibit is “I chose to do something else,” meaning that it will mainly have artwork that began in one way, but took another route — changing the outcome altogether.
“You can show your work in a very professional setting and have it recognized as artwork,” Hovley said. “A lot of this show is accepting work for what it is, including all of its faults.”
Hovley, along with other OMOCA members, have already seen several art pieces that have been submitted. She mentioned that the show will display these artists’ work to the students of Weber State University.
“I think that it’s cool when you get to see where your degree can take you,” said student Lily Shaffer. “It’s nice to see working artists that you take classes with create something that everyone can see.”
This exhibit will offer exposure to student artists, but in a more emotional sense, can be a thought-provoking source.
“I’m a firm believer in the power of art,” said Addie James, art major. “An artistic mindset can benefit anyone. Being exposed to art helps you understand the world even more. Things like this exhibit can help us in understanding our community better.”
Since the main genre of art shown is contemporary; it has no measure of good or bad. It simply depends on the passion of the art’s creator to determine if it is worthy of being displayed by OMOCA.
“The artwork is very genuine,” Hovely said. “I’ve noticed with a lot of different artists, they get stuck in a niche, and they can’t really get out of it. For contemporary art, there is a lot more freedom that comes along with it.”
Opening night for the exhibit will be Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. in the Shaw Gallery, located in the Kimball Arts Center.
Along with the exhibit, OMOCA will be releasing an independent magazine containing the work of local artists. With these two endeavors, OMOCA has shown its main theme: openness.
