Budding artists hit Meyerson

Students rushing to class in Meyerson Hall probably do not realize that the work of Penn's best artists lies just in front of them. A wide range of student work created by second-year Master of Fine Arts students has been on display in Meyerson Gallery since November 20. The annual exhibition will end tomorrow. "Only once a semester do we get to showcase the work of our students, so it's a really important venue," Graduate School of Fine Arts instructor Deirdre Murphy said. The second-year show is one of a few annual Fine Arts presentations, including the first-year show and the final thesis show. "The shows at Meyerson are a nice opportunity for Penn students to follow the work and growth of a young emerging artist from their first year show to their final thesis show," said second-year Fine Arts student Steven Labadessa, who was active in the planning of the exhibition. He added that the show is particularly interesting because these artists are just getting started, and students will be able to use their work when approaching galleries when they ultimately enter the art world. There are currently 18 second-year Fine Arts students, all of whom had the opportunity to share their work in the exhibit. The artwork itself covers a broad range of genres and styles, including painting, sculpture, mixed media and digital imagery and animation. According to Labadessa, the space assignment for the display was an important part of the organization process. Students themselves offered input as to where they felt their individual pieces would work best and a curatorial committee composed of four master's students ultimately decided the placement. Labadessa, head of the curatorial committee, said that this year's display is more "intimate in scale" than last year's. He feels this is a positive change because it makes the work more approachable. According to Labadessa, the emphasis is on students presenting their work not only to the Graduate School of Fine Arts, but to the entire University community. An opening reception was held last Thursday for members of the press, gallery representatives and Penn faculty and students. The striking variety of style and technique on display in Meyerson Gallery reflects the eclectic group of artists behind the work. Second-year Fine Arts student Kate Egan, who was the first annual recipient of the Philadelphia prize offered by a local gallery downtown, is now displaying her digital prints in the exhibit.

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