TEXARKANA, Texas - Texarkana College is hosting a student art exhibition in its Humanities Building this week featuring different forms of art from students in various classes.
The exhibition is typically an annual event, but was cancelled last year due to COVID-19. This year's theme is "Through Our Eyes."
Works presented came from students in the Spring 2020 and Fall 2021 semesters, from classes including drawing, design, painting, watercolor, ceramics and sculpture.
Visual Arts Instructor Angela Melde said this was an opportunity for art students to showcase their talents through their own lenses.
"The great thing about it is that you can see so many of the pieces are narrative and nature based," she said. "And it's just a great way for students to share their voice through visual arts and share their passion and love."
One of the students sharing his perspective was first-year student Linton Colvin.
Colvin plans to attend Liberty University and study graphic design, but wanted to get his basics out of the way at TC before doing so. He said he was pleasantly surprised at the artistic opportunities provided at TC.
"It started off as just a requirement and classes I had to take to get to graphic design. But I've really opened myself up to these mediums, and it's something I really enjoy," he said. "This semester has really been an eye-opener for mediums I can appreciate and utilize in the future."
Colvin highlighted and outlined his piece "Pools Closed," which was presented at the show. He was motivated to paint it after the snow storm a few months ago when he had to stay in the hotel he worked at because of all the snow. He said the borders of the glass windows in his room felt like bars in a prison cell because he wasn't allowed to leave the hotel for several days, which is evident in his painting.
"I'm extremely proud of each and every student," Melde said. "Many times this past year, we weren't able to meet face-to-face, and we had to meet online. So, students would get online and set up their studios from home. And that presented challenges. But the students were patient and every one put forth 100%. It made the whole experience even more satisfying to see the end product, knowing the struggles they had to go through to produce the art this year."
Colvin deflected credit back to Melde, his professor, who he said gave him every opportunity to be successful.
"Professor Melde has really done an amazing job teaching me and all these students here," he said. "And I sometimes don't think I say that enough to her because I don't know where I would be before taking this semester of classes. She liked my work and said I had potential to keep moving forward, and I'm really glad I stuck through it."
(The exhibit is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday - its last day - in the Stilwell Humanities Building lobby.)