The Jurors

As a juror for the 2020 UMD Art & Design Annual Student Exhibition, the challenge for me has been to select work for inclusion from an image or video and not from experiencing the works in person. While the strongest work will always shine through even when there are unprecedented limitations of engagement, I feel the loss of not being able to experience the works of these students in person.

Most artists do work in isolation in their studios. However, the impact and understanding of art is best experienced by an audience in person. While I do not intend to diminish an artist's need for expression and the actualization of their work, it is recognized that a larger conversation is dependent upon others for it to be fully realized. This conversation may continue with the individual or with a larger audience through reviews and in context with other artwork or experiences. As a result of the restrictions associated with the COVID-19 response, the show will be exhibited virtually which, regrettably, does not allow for full appreciation of dimensional work.

The recent turn of global events has immediate and untold impacts on our daily lives. It is therefore important to acknowledge the impact of previous national and global crises that are relevant to the work submitted for this year’s exhibition and to acknowledge that this current crisis will undoubtedly have an impact on the work in future year’s submissions.

In my review of the work for this exhibition, I found a recurring concept to be one of “vulnerability”: the vulnerability of individuals and our communities in a time of isolation and despair; humanity’s vulnerability in a time of inhumanity; and the vulnerability of the earth in a time of denial of an environmental crisis. Much of the work that spoke to me was about personal and societal struggles, introspection, contemplation and one’s journey to move beyond that struggle to find compassion, grace, beauty and joy.

I commend all the students who submitted work. As we strive to maintain our community during this time of isolation from friends, classmates, mentors, and for some, family, I encourage all of you to view your art and design practice as a way to continue to positively overcome the vulnerability you may experience now and in the future.

We’re living in strange and scary times. Years from now when you think back to the events of 2020, the results of the UMD Annual Student show will probably seem insignificant–if you remember the show at all. And why would you remember it? Like countless events around the world, the show has been cancelled. Campus is closed. Social distancing is recommended and in some places mandated. No one knows how long the pandemic will last or what the world will be like when it’s over.

And yet. Not long ago, before everything changed, I was in the process of judging this show. Those of you who had your work selected, be proud. Your entries showed vision, voice, conceptual thinking and technical achievement. Nicely done.

Those who didn’t make the cut: don’t let it get you down. The competition was stiff and there were hundreds of entries.

To everyone who entered: please know that in this era of disease and unease, art and design are still important. How important? That’s a question too big for me to answer. But I can share one fact that fascinates me: art predates agriculture by thousands of years. Long before our ancestors learned to feed themselves efficiently, they were expending valuable energy to create works of art. And they kept at it through every war, famine, plague, political collapse and natural disaster in human history.

And so will we.