The Center for the Visual Arts Gallery at Southern Oregon University opened its latest gallery Friday, April 7, featuring artwork from SOU students, alumni, and community members.
“Personally I wanted to be able to share something that I’ve only shared with my friends and family,” said featured artist Piper George whose work consisted of paintings titled “Folk Tails.”
Each month the CVA gallery sorts through applications from students and community members to give artists the opportunity to showcase their work in the gallery.
The gallery currently features exhibitions from Hannah Bakken, Tiffany Hokanson, Teague Wasserman, Piper George, Tess Meier, and Paige Gerhard. These exhibitions include various forms of artwork from paintings, copper etchings, and photography.
“I put a lot of heart and soul into my work and this is a way for me to represent that other part of myself to people,” said featured artist Tiffany Hokanson.
For Wasserman, this is her first formal gallery showcase. “It’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever felt in my life,” she said. Wasserman started making her work public last year. “By having it here and being able to conversate about it with people face to face is important for me,” said Wasserman.
Hannah Bakken, featured artist and director of the CVA gallery emphasized the importance the gallery has on the featured artists. “It gives them an experience to show their work in a professional setting.”
In addition to the gallery being a good learning opportunity for students she also mentioned the value the gallery has on connecting the greater Ashland community with SOU students.
Various works are chosen from the applications and grouped together based on how well these works connect as a whole. This particular gallery focused on landscaping featuring paintings, copper etchings, photography, and film. Finally approval for the gallery is made by CVA gallery committee. This current art exhibition will be open until April 27, followed by the next opening reception on May 5.
