A student art exhibition celebrated its opening of the “10X10” exhibit on Nov. 30 in the Art Gallery and was curated by Art Department Chair and Drawing and Painting Professor Robin Johnson.

Johnson said she wanted to have a short exhibition right before the holidays.

“Students were looking for a way to show their work and have a sales opportunity and I wanted to have more than one student exhibition in the gallery a year, so I came up with this idea of the ‘10X10’ exhibition,” Johnson said.

All the canvases were priced the same at $100 each with 15 pieces being sold during the first two days of the exhibit. Sales ended on Dec. 7 and those who purchased art will pick up their pieces next week.

Johnson said students submitted their insurance forms, documentation and payment which allows students to be able to directly receive funds and not pay a gallery fee.

Johnson said she opened the art exhibition with no parameters which meant that students could submit anything on the canvases, whether they were drawings, paintings, sculptures, etc.

“There’s such a diverse range of interest and content and even mediums that are used in the paintings. Since there weren’t any parameters, I opened up to any medium,” Johnson said.

Paula Ly, a 21-year-old art major, said this was her first time submitting work into an exhibition and she did oil paintings. Ly’s oil painting piece titled “Welcome” was sold at the opening event.

“I’m trying to, as an artist, promote my art out there. I want to connect and meet new people and try to experience what it’s like to be in a gallery,” Ly said.

Johnson said the exhibition was a hit and everyone loved the hot chocolate bar. She said that she would like to do this exhibition again for next year.

Cam Troung, a 52-year-old architecture major, said she submitted four pieces titled ‘Scattered Childhood’ that are all connected. She said the canvases are a part of her healing process.

“It’s supposed to be one piece but in four separate canvases,” Troung said. “I consider myself a perpetual optimist but many horrible things happened in my life especially when I was younger.”

Troung said she went back to school because she had a mental breakdown and decided to return.

“I’m actually in school again because I became sick while I was working, I had a mental breakdown in the year 2001. At the time, I was working as an analyst for the department of education. After twenty years of treatments and healing, I am finally off all the medicines and I don’t need the anti-depressants anymore, the anxiety pills, pain pills and I’m just happy,” Troung said.

Troung said that with her pieces, she wants students to know that healing is possible.

“I took all the different kinds of antidepressants and medicines. I even had to be locked up in a mental hospital for a month. God is good and I am well now,” Troung said.

Audrey Jeffers, a 20-year-old business and studio art major, made two canvases for the art gallery. One is titled “You’re no Bob Ross” and the other one is titled “Cheese and Peppers”.

“This one is called ‘You’re no Bob Ross’ so people have been laughing at it, but it’s actually not funny cause it’s kind of like dark humor,” Jeffers said. “I had been commissioned at my high school to paint my class mural and as I was painting it by myself for six months straight during COVID. One of the teachers walked up to me and thought I wasn’t good enough and said, ‘Well your no Bob Ross’ and so I decided to vent my art about it.”

Jeffers said she used acrylic paint for her pieces and wanted to get the feel of painting again because she hasn’t painted in seven months.

“If you get a canvas just paint it, do something on it. There’s people here with colored pencils and sculptures,” Jeffers said. “Do whatever you want with it, have fun.”