The time for art and design students to exhibit their work is now.

Due to last year’s budget cuts, Gallery 181 in the College of Design cannot afford to bring in as many exhibits from artists who are outside the university.

Mark Engelbrecht, dean of the College of Design, said shows brought in from the outside occupied a lot of time.

“Before, we would have four or five of these shows committed for a couple months’ run,” Engelbrecht said. “But now we have opened up a lot of time for Gallery 181. This gives us a forum for showing our own work for ourselves.”

Arthur Croyle, associate professor of art and design, said students prefer to see their own works rather than works from outside artists.

“We would get work in here and because they were from outside [the university], interest was nominal,” Croyle said. “The visits would always be much higher for faculty and student exhibits and lower for outsiders.”

Croyle said focusing on student art also has a disheartening side.

“When we would bring art from the outside it was good work but when we showed student work it was sometimes just so-so,” Croyle said. “But people prefer seeing work done by themselves regardless.”

Ingrid Lilligren, associate professor of art and design, said it is important to have a balance.

“We do have a number of opportunities for students,” she said.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Exhibition will be from March 3-17 and the Art and Design Annual – a student competition – will be in April.

Lilligren agrees it is important to show student work, but exhibiting outside work is also necessary.

“We have a lot of in-house exposure,” Lilligren said. “[But] I think it would be enormously useful for students to have access to individual artists and designers with national and international distinction. While we have very strong programs we cannot ignore the fact that we live rather a distance from cultural resources. And bringing traveling exhibitions to Gallery 181 continues to be a priority for me.”

Engelbrecht said he hopes the gallery can still mount one or two national shows a year though money will be difficult to come up with.

“In the past we showed works of interesting artists who had a regional or national stature,” Engelbrecht said. “They were some great shows, and I hope we can return to them.”