UPDATED: Staniar Gallery Features Senior Art Theses in Virtual Exhibit W&L's studio art majors present their senior projects in an online exhibition.

By Erica Turman
March 11, 2020

In response to the COVID-19 public health crisis and closing of campus to the public, Washington and Lee University’s senior studio art majors Angela Delos Reyes, Ashley Gillen, and Allison Young will present this year’s senior thesis projects digitally in a virtual exhibition.

The show launched on April 16 in a virtual gallery created by the 2020 Staniar Gallery interns: Lindsey Hewitt ’21, Victoria Morgan ’20, Darcy Olmstead ’21 and Kassidy Strosnider ’20. Viewers can access the virtual gallery at:  https://bit.ly/Staniar where they are able to navigate through the space by clicking and dragging the green footprint icon. By selecting an art object or text panel, visitors can learn more about the projects and hear the artists in their own words. Individual images of each piece in the students’ project can be found using the link on the Staniar Gallery webpage.

Featuring work in different media, this annual exhibition is an opportunity for graduating seniors to showcase their year-long projects in a professional gallery setting. Reyes explores her cultural identity by asking the question “What does it mean to be Filipino?” in a body of work that includes textiles, photographs and texts. In two related series of paintings, Gillen creates colorful, large-scale portraits and close-up views of her sitters’ hands. Drawing on her dual majors in studio art and mathematics, Young uses printmaking techniques to create works on paper that she will organize into sets based on mathematical theories.

Staniar Gallery is a 1,300 square foot space located on the second floor of Wilson Hall, in Washington and Lee University’s Lenfest Center for the Arts. When campus is open to the public, gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9a.m. to 5 p.m.  For more information, please call 540-458-8861.