Clair Sumption won best black and white photo with her piece Vicissitude.
The Student Art Spring Festival comes to a close this weekend with readings from creative writing students and the year’s final choral concert.
The festival kicked off last week with the student visual art show, which featured more than 40 works from students enrolled in arts courses. Heyd Fontenot, director of CentralTrak, UT Dallas’ artist residency and gallery, juried the exhibition. Fontenot awarded prizes to Clair Sumption for best black-and-white photo; Russell Mendolla for best digital print; Luke Harnden for best painting; Pierre Krause for best printmaking graphic; and Genesis Binion for best multimedia piece.
Holly Lynn’s book of photographs, Personal Space, won a Dean’s Award.
“There were several pieces in the show which I liked quite a lot but wasn’t able to award a prize. There was too much good work and not enough prizes. I was impressed with the output,” said Fontenot.
Fontenot’s picks received gift cards to the Film Depot, Red River Paper and Asel Art Supply.
Four students received Dean’s Awards for their work: Alice Gardner-Bates, who was awarded for an untitled oil painting; Holly Lynn for her book of photographs, Personal Space; Maggie Wurzer for Contemporary Closet, a set of acrylic paintings; and Madison Martin Pachacek for her series of watercolor paintings, Speakeasy.
For the final weekend of the festival, five creative writing students will read their fiction works and poetry at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, in the Jonsson Performance Hall. The students, from graduate and undergraduate creative writing classes, are Christopher Manes, Lily Ounekeo, Andrew McConnell, Sabrina Palmieri and Lauren Davis.
Saturday, students will present the choral concert Earthly Delights and Music of the Spheres.
“The display of work by these students is emblematic of the quality of production that our creative writing classes generate. This reading offers the UT Dallas community an opportunity to support the efforts of these writers and to share in their talent and ability,” said Dr. Clay Reynolds, the University’s director of creative writing.
Also on Saturday, UT Dallas students will present the choral concert Earthly Delights and Music of the Spheres. At 8 p.m. in the University Theatre, the UT Dallas Community Chorale and the UT Dallas Chamber Singers will join a chamber orchestra in performing Ode to St. Cecilia’s Day by G. F. Handel, Choose Something Like a Star by Randall Thompson and works by Orlando di Lasso, Paul McCartney, Harold Arlen and Eric Whitacre, among others. The concert is directed by Mary Medrick and Kathryn Evans.
Both weekend events are free and open to the public. For more information, email utdarts@utdallas.edu or call (972) UTD-ARTS.