It has been said that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Try telling that to the Veishea committee.

This year, Iowa State’s annual spring celebration is expanding to include more aspects of student life in order to encompass the full meaning of Veishea, the celebration of Iowa State’s excellence on campus.

FOCUS on Veishea is an annual art show that is being presented in the Gallery Room of the Memorial Union throughout Veishea weekend. This year, the Veishea committee has joined forces with the college of design and the Memorial Union to celebrate student life and explore Iowa State’s influence on student life, art style, or the particular art piece a student entered.

“The goal is to showcase artists on campus while the artists showcase ISU in return,” said Carrie Scott, junior in graphic design and Veishea college of design representative.

“The work this year is exceptional. I would say the show is a success,” said David Mondt, senior in art and design. Mondt is also the student chair for FOCUS and the Student Union Board’s fine arts director.

FOCUS on Veishea is split into two parts. One show is for artwork that has been created through the use of grants received by students and was funded by the Government of the Student Body. The other show is juried and began with between 100 and 125 entries. The final show now has 34 entries and is being sponsored by Student Union Board.

“It was pretty tough competition,” said Theresa Cannon, program adviser of arts at the Memorial Union and a member of the FOCUS committee.

All of the artwork submitted is by students, ranging from freshmen to graduate students. The show gives an opportunity for students and the College of Design to receive recognition for their work, though not all of the students that entered are art majors.

The juried show is the highlight of FOCUS on Veishea. Sarah Grant-Hutchison was selected to judge student entries. Grant-Hutchison is a former professor at Iowa State and currently owns Sticks, Inc., a store in Des Moines that makes art out of objects. She has also had work shown in museums, corporations and galleries.

“She is a very knowledgeable and successful artist,” Cannon said.