The Visual Arts Center at the Washington Pavilion is currently home to work by some of South Dakota's young artists.
The display is your chance to see their works now, so one day you can say you knew the artists when they were just students.
60 works of art are part of the Washington Pavilion's "University Invitational." 10 South Dakota colleges are represented, by 60 student artists.
Visual Arts Center Director David Merhib says, "one of the most important things for us as an institution is opening our doors to these budding artists in our state...it's a chance to further show their talents on a statewide stage."
Merhib says many kinds of art are represented here too, "video to sculpture to ceramic to multi-media to photography."
Merhib says some pieces presented a challenge to the curator, like a found-art sculpture. It took some engineering to install, but he says it was worth it, saying, "hanging it about 12 feet high, so it's just a beautiful piece."
Merhib says the invitational not only provides young artists exposure, but more. He says, "hopefully a chance to sell their work and have it collected by area collectors." To start their young careers off on the right foot, making them professional artists before they even finish school.
The University Invitational will run through February 17th. You can see the pieces at the Visual Arts Center in the Washington Pavilion for free. The center is open every day of the week except for Monday. Click this link: https://boxoffice.washingtonpavilion.org/Online/default.asp?menu_id=E8CADA75-EEF5-4335-90C6-53107DBCE58C for hours of operation.
There will also be a chance to meet the artists themselves at the closing reception the evening of February 17th from 5:00 to 8:00.
