Schools

Photographer of the Year and 2012 Annual Student Exhibition to Open at Prairie State College on August 27


Chicago Heights, IL—(ENEWSPF)—July 31, 2012.  The Christopher Art Gallery at Prairie State College is hosting the Photographer of the Year and 2012 Annual Student Exhibition from Monday, Aug. 27 through Sunday, Sept. 30. An opening reception will be held Wednesday, Aug. 29 from noon to 2 p.m. in the gallery.

The exhibit includes drawings, paintings, photographs, and mixed media works that were produced by PSC students in the 2011- 2012 academic year.

Professor Paul Rinaldi, coordinator of fine arts, says the show is intended to sample and provide a platform for some of the most accomplished work produced in the PSC studios and recognized by the art department faculty.

“Most of the students exhibiting here are just beginning their formal art studies at Prairie State, yet many of the works already demonstrate a commitment to self-discovery and technical professionalism,” he said.
“We applaud these students’ hard work and accomplishments, and, at the start of a new semester, we look forward to the next chapter in their creative explorations,” Rinaldi added.

Featured during the exhibit will be the work of this year’s Photographer of the Year, student Beth Schimanski, a resident of Crete.

The Photographer of the Year award is given annually to an outstanding PSC photography student. In addition to being the featured artist in the student show, Schimanski also will receive a $1,500 scholarship.

Schimanski says of her experience with photography that she is “fully engaged in this tiny square of a world that will allow [her] only twelve precious frames at a time to trap and later translate a natural instant.”

She says her work displayed at the exhibit, titled at the essence, “was as natural an undertaking as it gets: chance encounters leading to rich beverages, quality company, and amazing music.”

The images she captured for the project were in the “humble and comforting home, recording studio, and jamspot of a talented musician and kind soul, who welcomed [her] Yashica and [her] into his dwelling.”

“There is a vibe in this spot of an undeniable and intrinsic nature of goodwill, along with a spirited passion for life and wisdom,” she said. “It was these attributes and divine light that led me easily around the wood of the essence and its musicians and gave me a bounty of true gain that I can hope is even partially relayed in my images.”

Additional student artists represented in the exhibit are Norman Harris and David Koenig of Beecher; Adrian Andrade, Karina Corona, Reginald Gale, Miriam Meade, Antoine Merrick, and Jackie Reyna of Chicago Heights; Patrick Van Zyl of Crete; Emily Schranz of Glenwood; Kailah Armand and William Moser of Homewood; Carla Banuelos and Norman Harris of Lynwood; William Billingsly and Gwen Desvignes of Matteson; Natalie Pesick of Olympia Fields; Amber Peoples of Richton Park; and Tenyiah Simmons of Steger.

The Christopher Art Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. The gallery will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 3. Visits also can be made by appointment. For more information about the exhibit or to make an appointment for a visit, contact the PSC Foundation at (708) 709-3636.

Source: http://prairiestate.edu


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