Students of Iowa State willing to share their artistic talents are able to so in the “Studies in Creativity” annual exhibit at the Gallery in the Memorial Union. Out of 188 entries, 54 were chosen to be showcased for the juried student exhibition.

The juror in charge of deciding what would be shown in the exhibit this year was Julia Franklin, assistant professor of sculpture and ceramics at Graceland University in Lamoni. Due to space limitations, Franklin had to decide on fewer than one-third of the initial submissions to be shown in the exhibit. Judging the show from a formal perspective, Franklin had many factors to consider for each piece.

“I looked for good composition and craftsmanship,” Franklin says. “I was impressed by some of the techniques and styles the students had developed, especially in the area of print making. Contrast, texture, line, content, shape and form all played important parts in determining if a piece was accepted.”

Dustin Kurrle, junior in art and design, won the award for Best of Show in the exhibit. Franklin says she felt his photography series, titled “Bubbles,” really stood out among the other pieces.

“[The series] was amazing — the contrast, composition and scale made the pieces very appealing,” she says.

Kurrle’s winning entry was a series of three black-and-white photographs shot with a macro lens, which allowed him to shoot extremely close to his subject matter.

“I started out by putting water, hair gel, dish soap and anything else that would make bubbles into [plastic] wrap,” Kurrle says. “I then stretched the wrap across two two-by-fours, and used controlled lighting from both under and on top of the wrap. This allowed for many different compositions through the macro lens. The results were mainly large bubbles or strands of bubbles that were pretty abstracted.”

Kurrle’s main focus for the work was to make a composition that was visually stimulating to people and make them wonder what they were looking at. The award came as a pleasant surprise for Kurrle.

“I didn’t think I would actually win Best of Show. I was shocked, to say the least. There was a lot of great work in the show.”

Franklin says the hardest part about her position as juror is that she couldn’t include everything. She says it is important for students to keep working to make sure their work gets seen.

“It is important for students not to get discouraged simply because one person did not like their work,” Franklin says.

“Every exhibition or critique gives them some information on how to improve their work or to emphasize what they are doing right.”

Franklin says the judging process is only about the work itself, so when judging, the art is kept completely anonymous and she has no idea of the titles or who the artist may be.

“The judging should be fair since it is the quality of the work that matters,” Franklin says. “I love black-and-white works and that is apparent when you look at the works selected. Those works also happened to be the strongest works submitted.”

The exhibit is open to students of all majors, says Sara Weitzel, fine arts director for the Student Union Board. Weitzel says work in all media was accepted, with the majority of the entries being black-and-white photographs and prints.

Weitzel says the entries were grouped by medium, with Franklin choosing a fair share from each category to balance out all the different media included in the exhibit.

“We had some really high quality entries that didn’t even get into the show,” Weitzel says.

Franklin agrees that the skill and technique of the entries was remarkable.

“The quality of ideas and presentation were very strong,” Franklin says. “There were clear ideas with an emphasis placed on combining and experimenting with other media. Some students collaged images, printed on maps or used coffee to enhance their work.”

Weitzel believes this exhibit is a big confidence booster for students as well as a great r‚sum‚ builder and opportunity for artists at Iowa State.

“This exhibition is a great opportunity for students, faculty and staff to see some outstanding artwork created by some of Iowa’s most talented emerging artists,” Franklin says.

The exhibit, which is sponsored by the Student Union Board and the Memorial Union, will run until Dec. 5 in the second floor gallery of the Memorial Union. Since the room doubles as a meeting room, those interested are advised to call ahead for open viewing hours at 292-1111.