PSC to open student exhibit Aug. 27

CHICAGO HEIGHTS | The Christopher Art Gallery at Prairie State College, 202 S. Halsted St., is hosting the photographer of the year and 2012 annual student exhibition from  Aug. 27 through Sept. 30. An opening reception takes place from noon to 2 p.m. Aug. 29 in the gallery.

The exhibit includes drawings, paintings, photographs, and mixed media works that were produced by PSC students in the 2011- 2012 academic year.

Professor Paul Rinaldi, coordinator of fine arts, said the show is intended to sample and provide a platform for some of the most accomplished work produced in the PSC studios and recognized by the art department faculty.

“Most of the students exhibiting here are just beginning their formal art studies at Prairie State, yet many of the works already demonstrate a commitment to self-discovery and technical professionalism,” he said.

Featured during the exhibit will be the work of this year’s photographer of the year, student Beth Schimanski, a resident of Crete.

The Photographer of the Year award is given annually to an outstanding PSC photography student. In addition to being the featured artist in the student show, Schimanski also will receive a $1,500 scholarship.

Schimanski said of her experience with photography she is “fully engaged in this tiny square of a world that will allow (her) only 12 precious frames at a time to trap and later translate a natural instant.”

Additional student artists represented in the exhibit are Norman Harris and David Koenig, of Beecher; Adrian Andrade, Karina Corona, Reginald Gale, Miriam Meade, Antoine Merrick, and Jackie Reyna, of Chicago Heights; Patrick Van Zyl, of Crete; Emily Schranz, of Glenwood; Kailah Armand and William Moser, of Homewood; Carla Banuelos and Norman Harris, of Lynwood; William Billingsly and Gwen Desvignes, of Matteson; Natalie Pesick, of Olympia Fields; Amber Peoples, of Richton Park; and Tenyiah Simmons, of Steger.

The Christopher Art Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. The gallery will be closed on Labor Day, Sept. 3. Visits also can be made by appointment. For more information about the exhibit or to make an appointment for a visit, contact the PSC Foundation at (708) 709-3636.