By Lydia Melby, Arts Editor
ACU students have a chance to experience the world of art and expression this Friday at 7 p.m., as eight seniors from the art and design program unveil some of the ideas they have produced during their college career.
The exhibit’s title, Youer Than You, comes from the Dr. Seuss book Happy Birthday to You! The full quotation reads, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
“Our group decided that we wanted to reflect a sort of child-like magic, just like looking back on when we were kids,” said Sarah Depmore, senior art and design major from Roundrock.
Kelsey Evans, senior interior design major from Gresham, Ore., said the quote reflected the sense of wonder they associated with childhood, so they chose their title from that.
“We started talking sketches we did as children and how that kind of catapulted us into what we wanted to do with our future, so we thought that would be a good idea for the theme,” Evans said. “We also wanted to incorporate some of the things we did as kids in the decoration of the gallery, so we constructed a sort of tent, like the ones we made out of sheets when we were kids.”
Since eight students are in the show, and each student will display between five and seven pieces, it is conceivable that space could become an issue in the Shore Art Gallery, but Depmore said she and the rest of the students almost were finished with set up and had yet to run into any problems.
“There may be a couple of issues with space, but it wouldn’t be anything we can’t work out,” she said.
Although “art exhibit” usually evokes images of painting after painting hung on an endless wall, “Youer Than You” will feature many different genres of art creations. Depmore said a lot of it will be various forms of mixed media.
“You’re going to get a variety of styles in this show. It’s a wonderful group of students who are very passionate about their work and who have somewhat of an idea of where they want to go with it,” Depmore said. “There is a real sense of individuality in this exhibit, and I think people will see that.”
In the past, the senior art exhibits have provided some quality, provocative work, and ACU students can expect Youer Than You to be no exception.
“Our teachers have really provided a lot of guidance and advice and have helped us prepare for the professional level, and I think that is going to show in the gallery,” Depmore said. “I think the work we are exhibiting is amazing, and I think people really care about what they’re doing, which is what they really love, and that passion really shows through.”
Evans agreed and said they had all worked and planned for this show for a while now and their effort is evedint in the quality.
“It is a student show, but it is also a professional show in the sense that we are almost done with our degrees; we’re trained in the field, and we are now ready to go out into the world,” Evans said.
Aside from the high quality showcased in Youer Than You, Evans also said people should look forward to viewing an exhibit that gives a good deal of artistic diversity.
“We want people to be really excited about the variety and uniqueness of our show because we have everything from sculpture to paintings to sketches to photography to design pieces,” Evans said. “We’re just a lot of different majors in the art and design department coming together to show off what we’ve been able to do these past few years.”
