Ben Overby
Staff writer
boverby2@murraystate.edu

The Organization of Murray Art Students held their annual juried student show despite difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The show, which has the theme of “SURVIVAL” this year, is a diverse collection of visual art submitted by art students. First place went to senior James Inmon’s “Overturned,” second place went to senior Ashley Schell’s “Discourse” and third place went to senior Autumn Brown’s “Tadpole”. The prizes were $500, $250 and $125 respectively.

The “SURVIVAL” exhibit was on display at the Clara M. Eagle Gallery from March 5 to 24. 

Junior River Skipworth, president of OMAS, was instrumental in organizing the show. Skipworth was in charge of organizing the OMAS magazine (OMAG), used to fundraise for the show, finding a juror, contacting the Clara M. Eagle Gallery for times and publication and getting local businesses and organizations to sponsor awards. Skipworth also entered a piece into the show.

He assisted with the show last year as vice president, mostly focusing on social media and publication. He said having this year’s show during a pandemic posed unique challenges.

“Because we had to have the opening online, we had to make a really large slideshow that displayed all the work and the winners,” Skipworth said. “A lot of the fixing we had to do for this year’s show was adjusting to a Zoom opening. This is also the first year we did the OMAG. It was very successful, but also a lot of work.”

The show was judged by Louisville artist John Brooks. Brooks said he approached judging the show similarly to how he would curate an exhibition.

“I’m always looking for work that is distinct, inventive, thoughtful, arresting and memorable,” Brooks said. “No work has to be all of those things, but it must have some ineffable quality. I’m also looking for work that has clearly been made with great intention, and work that has some kind of relevance to or understanding of what is happening in the world or a relationship with or commentary on conversations happening in the wider world of contemporary art.” 

Brooks said making good art goes beyond technical skill. They are brought into existence through a series of informed decisions, and certain works just feel right. Brooks said he found common themes among much of the work, even past the general theme of survival.

“2020 was a year that hit us all hard, and we will be feeling the repercussions of the year for a long time,” Brooks said. “Also present were themes of disaffection, or an awareness of a kind of unraveling of accepted norms or habits. So much is changing. Feelings of disorder and otherness, as well as the beginnings of an understanding of the fragility of everything–our lives, our bodies, our nation, our planet–also kept revealing themselves.”

Brooks said it was wonderful to see the concerns of young people through their work and he was honored to be the juror of this year’s show.

Inmon said winning best in show was incredibly validating. Inmon has submitted work in the OMAS show for the past four years and has won awards in the last three.

Inmon’s sculpture “Overturned” is of two identical houses with the bottoms joined together, made with plywood, paint and frosted mylar with a lightbulb inside  the houses. Inmon said he found inspiration in his love of architecture and his recent interest in making watercolor paintings of people’s houses.

“One thing I noticed pretty quickly was that a lot of houses are nearly identical structurally,” Inmon said. “I thought this was really weird because our homes normally feel like such a huge part of our identity and to think that they all come from the same cookie-cutter foundation is wild. So that realization is kind of what has fueled my work over the past eight months or so.”

To see these works and more, visit the OMAS Instagram.