Northwestern and Dordt College are almost always rivals, whether competing in NC/DC or on the basketball court. However, the art department has designed an event that will bridge the gap between the rival schools. Art students from both schools will be putting on a joint art exhibition starting Friday, Dec. 4, in the Te Paske Gallery in the Korver Visual Arts Center.
This event, which has taken place annually for more than ten years, is student-run and student-dictated. Three art majors are chosen as judges for both Dordt and NW. The NW students will choose their favorite of all of Dordt’s submissions, and the Dordt students will in turn choose their favorites of all of NW’s submissions.
“It’s very selective,” art professor Rein Vanderhill said. “Students get to see what it’s like to try to get something chosen to be in a show. It’s very competitive.”More than 100 pieces of many different varieties are submitted, and only about 15 from each school are chosen to be shown.
At the opening on Dec. 4, at 7 p.m., students will critique each other’s artwork and explain why they chose the pieces they did.
Senior Moriah Anderson is one of the judges this year, along with juniors Kevin Krueger and Brittany Corlew. Anderson has had pieces chosen for the exhibit the last two years, and she is excited to be a judge as well as to submit both photography and ceramics pieces this year.
“I’m really excited to submit a Photography II project I’ve been working really hard on,” Anderson said. “It has to do with the seven deadly sins, and it’s taken me the whole class to get done with, so I’m hoping it does okay.”
After reviewing Dordt’s art submissions, all three judges will choose their favorite piece and explain why they liked that one best to those attending the exhibit opening.
“It’s a chance for students to do peer evaluation and get comments from people they don’t really know,” Vanderhill said. “There aren’t really prizes except for recognition by faculty and their peers.”
Students are welcome to attend the opening or visit the exhibit through the end of the semester.
