The Second Annual art show is a great success.
Yin Li, photography student and a database programmer for Hilbert College, displays her photographs at the first second annual Hilbert College Art Show.
October 15th, 2005 - 35 student presenters, more than 100 guests, and nearly 200 photographs, posters, and other pieces of visual art represents the second annual Hilbert College Art show presented by the Center for Creative Media and the Hilbert College Communications Club. While no news people showed up, this event was historical for the college since it represented the return of art to the college in a meaningful way, and predicts the future expansion of the art offerings at Hilbert College.

The Art Show was held this year in the evening, with Father Bernard opening the show in front of a packed crowd. Tasteful classical music was played, courtesy of the Communications Club, and students where on hand to show guests around the 60 exhibits and 200 individual works of art. One interesting aspect of the show was the number of faculty and staff presenters came to this year's show, showing how much 'art' existed underground on the campus.

Another interesting aspect of the show was how excited the students were, even those who were not all that keen to have their efforts displayed in public. When the students saw the room filled with art, literally every nook and crany of the main atrium in Franciscan Hall was covered with art work, they became less self-conscious and more confident of their own work. I guess misery likes company, or perhaps the students saw that lots of people had the nerve to show their work in front of a crowd.

Another interesting aspect of the show was the critical comments that students garnered of their work. With 8 in 10 presenters being sophomores or freshman, most with no art experience, the work was excellent, but the students still had a long way to go in some cases. The audience could see this and often made excellent critical comments to the students, who mostly accepted them with savior faire.

And already, there are plans for a bigger show next year, this time in the new Paczesny Hall. Stay tuned.
Mike Murrin, Joann Murrin, Yin Li, Mary King, Kate Maragliano, and Professor Steve Jackson pose on the bannister of Franciscan Hall during the art show.
A few of this year's posters produced by the Hilbert College COM 170 Explorations in Media class. Explorations in Media is an innovative class that takes students, most of whom have never worked seriously in digital media, and allows them to get a wide variety of experiences in the media. Students make a poster for a client, create a website on a topic that interests them, produces an audio show, and then create a final project using one or more of the previous media combined.