Welcome to the 2021 Juried Student Art Exhibition

It was an honor to serve as this year's juror for the University of Utah's Department of Art & Art History Annual Student Art Exhibition. As I spent time with each of the entries, it was incredibly exciting to see the creativity, skill, and thoughtful reflection that shone through in these students' work. There were multiple pieces that invited me to return to them again and again, to dive into their details and be transported by their beautiful execution and depth of ideas. Delicate and subtle gestures demonstrated their incredible power.

This year's selected works represent a diverse range of media, concepts, and artistic concerns. Across painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and more, the artists have explored the potential of their chosen medium to create compelling works of art. Some pieces reflect an earnest study of long-established technique while others powerfully embrace untraditional materials to capture the contemporary moment, revealing so much of what we've individually and collectively experienced this past year.

Thank you to the incredible faculty and staff for your perseverance through these challenging times, and for the many ways that you have supported and inspired your students. I am excited to continue watching the work of these talented artists in the coming years. Congratulations to everyone involved in this year's exhibition!

-Nancy Stoaks, 2021 Juror

Since moving to Utah in 2014, Nancy Stoaks has worked as the Associate Director of CUAC in Salt Lake City and then as Curator at Park City's Kimball Art Center. She earned her MA in Art History from the University of Washington, where she studied twentieth-century European and American art, focusing in particular on Niki de Saint Phalle’s shooting paintings of the early 1960s. She has since lectured on this topic at universities, conferences, and museums, including the Seattle Art Museum and Tate Liverpool. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, her prior experience includes time as a Curatorial Associate at Seattle's Frye Art Museum, as Director of James Harris Gallery and Howard House Contemporary Art, and as Curator of the Swedish Medical Center art collection, an esteemed collection of Northwest art.