Front Range Community College art students were not able to share their artwork with their peers in class this year. Now, they are sharing work for the first time in a public exhibit.
“Front Range Community College Student Show: Produced in Isolation,” the fourth annual juried student show from Front Range’s Boulder County Campus in Longmont, is on display until Jan. 3 at the Firehouse Art Center. Paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography from the fall 2019, spring, summer and current semester are featured.
Unlike previous years, the opening reception, scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, will not be a large affair. Doors will open to the public at 6:30 p.m. Friday, but there will be limited capacity. Face coverings also will be required.
John Cross, Front Range Community College faculty lead for the college’s art program, will present the exhibit on a livestream on the Firehouse Facebook page. The video will include an artist visit and tour of the gallery.
The annual juried show serves as an educational experience for participating students and allows them to polish their professional skills such as presenting and selling their work. In preparation for the show, students were asked to professionally frame and document their submissions.
Front Range Community College students' work on display at the Firehouse Art Center.(Photo by Lisa Doane Photography / Courtesy of Firehouse Art Center)Michael Paglia, art critic, writer and curator, will jury the art show. Prizes will be awarded for 3D design, drawing, photography and painting. Students also will compete for a Best of Show prize and a VP Purchase Award, for which Front Range buys a piece for the college’s permanent collection.
There are 30 pieces in the show, Coons said. She added that an award ceremony is usually held at Firehouse, but this year there won’t be an official event.
Every year, students are asked to prepare their work for professional display but with the ongoing pandemic, students also were asked to reserve a part of their home for a private studio while attending remote classes. For many, the juried art show will allow students to view their peers’ artwork in person for the first time.
“Since March our students have been making art in isolation away from their peers, their instructors, and the familiar classroom art studios. … Our students have endured the financial, physical, and mental stresses of the pandemic with self-discipline, hard work, and dedication to their craft,” Cross said in a statement on Firehouse’s website. “I am honored to be involved in their education and humbled by their willingness to push through the obstacles they have been presented with.”
