The WVU School of Art and Design presents the 13th Annual Juried Student Exhibition in the Laura Mesaros Gallery at the WVU Canady Creative Arts Center now through Feb. 26. An awards reception will be held Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. in the Douglas O. Blaney Lobby.
The Annual Juried Student Exhibition is open to Art and Design undergraduate majors and minors, as well as graduate students, and gives students a practical experience similar to applying for a gallery show.
School of Art and Design faculty review all the applicants and make recommendations, and the exhibition committee chooses which works will go on display. This year’s committee members include Assistant Director of Art and Professor of Sculpture Jason Lee, Teaching Assistant Professor of Interior Design Nazli Hosseini, Visiting Professor of Painting and Foundations Nichole van Beek, Associate Director and Professor of Printmaking Joe Lupo, Associate Professor of Graphic Design Joe Galbreath (fall only) and Associate Professor of Graphic Design Kofi Opoku (spring only). For the spring 2026 exhibition, out of 150 applications, 30 student pieces were selected for the gallery.
Lee has chaired the exhibition committee for 16 years, spearheading a juried exhibition since before the event took its current form.
When Lee arrived at WVU, there hadn’t been a juried art exhibition in several years, and students requested the School bring it back. It took a few years for the event to evolve into the Annual Juried Student Exhibition we know today, starting out in the CCAC lobby and growing until it filled one of the Mesaros Galleries.
“It’s always been a great showcase of our students’ work and a great way to show off what we do to the community at large. We hope people from around the University come to see the exhibition,” said Lee.
Gianna Ritornaro is a second-year graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Painting. Her piece, “What You’re Not Changing, You’re Choosing,” was selected for the juried exhibition.
“I applied last year, but I didn’t have much work to submit for consideration, so I wasn’t surprised when I wasn’t chosen,” she said. “So when I found out this time that I got in, I was super excited, and I’m grateful to be part of the exhibition.”
Ritornaro’s work combines abstraction and figuration: a study of the human figure, though rarely in an obvious way. She likes to play with the idea of revealing and concealing, exploring what people present to the outside world versus what they keep from public view. Her art is like an open-ended question to the viewer, asking them to bring their own experiences and perspectives as they engage with her paintings.
"What You're Not Changing, You're Choosing" by Gianna Ritornaro
“Being accepted into a show has definitely given me a confidence boost, and I can add it to my resume to help me get into more exhibitions,” she said. “It was good practice for applying to galleries in the future.”
It’s Ritornaro’s dream to be a working artist—having her work displayed and sold in galleries—while also traveling and teaching at the collegiate level across the country.
She also had the unique experience of assisting Sam Boehm, the Exhibition Coordinator for the Art Museum of WVU, with installing the exhibition in the Laura Messaros Gallery.
“It was cool to have the opportunity to see what it’s like to both be in an exhibition and put one together,” Ritornaro said.
Being selected for the exhibition is an accomplishment by itself, but some student artists will also receive awards and cash prizes.
Each year, an invited guest juror judges the exhibition works and chooses one for Best in Show, as well as four runners-up. This year, WVU alumnus and Pittsburgh-based interdisciplinary artist Derek Reese served as the juror. A native of Maidsville, West Virginia, Reese describes his creative journey as “traversing the tapestry of Appalachian heritage and the evolving socio-political landscape of contemporary America.”
In addition to the juror’s awards, there are monetary prizes sponsored by the School of Art and Design, the College of Creative Arts and Media and alumni, including Ruth Yang, Cynthia and David Myerberg and Jamie Lester. As part of WVU's Art in the Libraries, a selection committee gives two monetary awards and chooses works to be displayed in the libraries.
In total, 15 awards will be announced during the Feb. 19 ceremony and reception, which is open to the public and free to attend. All awards include a monetary component, ranging from $200-$700, and winners also receive a certificate designed by WVU Graphic Design students.
While the awards are nice, the ultimate goal of the juried exhibition is to give students real-world experience, said Lee.
“In the same way Theatre puts on plays and Music puts on concerts to gain professional experience, this is our professional practice. This is what we train our students to do in fine art and design,” he said.
The Laura Mesaros Gallery in the Douglas O. Blaney Lobby of the WVU CCAC is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour prior to Discovery and Curiosity Series events.
Learn more about the WVU School of Art and Design at artanddesign.wvu.edu and follow @WVUArtandDesign on social media.