The Southern Oregon University Emerging Media and Digital Arts program has created an online gallery of students’ work in an attempt to share students’ work with a wider audience and possibly potential clients, recruiters, and creative enthusiasts, according to the website.
According to the gallery’s curator, Bailey McWhorter, the initial idea was proposed in Fall 2013 with the website starting up in February 2014. Francisco Kuriyama, a member of SOU’s IT department, had a large role in obtaining the web domain. The website was created, and submissions are added as they come.
“The stuff I was creating in [EMDA] courses was cool. Even more impressive was what my peers were doing,” McWhorter said, “But who got to see the final products? Only us. And that was a problem to me.”
McWhorter also wanted something to interest students in SOU. “Most art institutions and graphic design academies have a student gallery right on their homepage,” she said. “Because the EMDA program is so new here at SOU, the idea of an online gallery is perfect for not only showcasing student art, but also attracting prospective students.”
Categories featured include everything from graphic design to video and typography, and are currently welcoming new submissions. Student Chelsea Fankhauser has some of her pieces on display in the gallery.
“The EMDA student gallery is a great opportunity for students to start getting their work out there,” Fankhauser said. “Not only is it beneficial for our art to be available for an outside audience, but the EMDA gallery is also a great way for students to see the work of their colleagues.”
Personal social media sites are linked directly from the gallery, thanks to McWhorter. She said, “I see the gallery as a way to not only promote the new EMDA program, but also promote each person as an artist.”
To see the gallery, gallery.sou.edu
