COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Mississippi University for Women’s art students took top honors in the recent 2018 Mississippi Collegiate Art Competition held at The University of Mississippi Museum in Oxford.
The students who won awards were Desarea Guyton (Juror’s Award of Excellence), Jessica Wallace (Best in Photography) and Ladanna Jones (Best in Drawing).
Guyton, who is from West, is a recent graduate of The W. She earned a bachelor of fine arts in studio art. She is an illustrator who explores stereotypes and the culture of African-Americans. Originally from Bogue Chitto, Wallace is a graduating senior pursuing a BFA in studio art with an emphasis in photography. Jones, who is from Kossuth, is a junior pursuing a degree in art education.
The W had more works accepted at the MCAC exhibition than any other school this year. Twenty-nine out of 100 works were selected. Students who had work accepted into this year’s exhibition included Chris Garner, Rachel Wheeler, Meng Wu, Ladanna Jones, Ja’Donnieka Ballard, Josh Edgar, Natalie Roper, April Vice, Pauline Pimolle, Jessica Wallace, Dustin Bailey, Kylie Brown, JoAnn Thomas, Desarea Guyton, Lexi Maier, Kelly Brown, and Haley Sipes. MUW fared well in the categories of Graphic Design (four out of 10 accepted), Photography (five out of 11 accepted) and Drawing (eight out of 11).
“The Collegiate show has always been an important priority to the Department of Art and Design here at MUW. In fact, in the last decade, MUW has submitted more entries than any other school. 
Because of how fiercely we compete, we are consistently in the top three for number of works accepted and in the top four for number of awards,” said Alex Stelioes-Wills, associate professor of arts.
He added, “This year we did especially well and our students should take the full credit for that success. Every MUW student who submitted artwork to the show was part of that effort and part of that success.”
The other schools that participated in the show were Delta State University, Jackson State University, Millsaps College, Mississippi College, Mississippi Valley State University, The University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University.
The juror for this year’s exhibition was Dan Brawner, chair and professor of graphic design at Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film in Nashville, Tenn.
The Mississippi Collegiate Arts exhibit is part of a statewide juried competition for student artists enrolled in the state’s four-year colleges and universities. The annual event is designed to showcase the high quality of visual arts education taking place in Mississippi higher education.
The exhibition runs through Saturday, March 10 at The University of Mississippi Museum.
For more information about The W’s art department, please visit http://www.muw.edu/case/art.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2018
Contact: Urusha Silwal
(662) 497-8028
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.