Senior Portraits

“Kinross High” is a name that evokes nostalgic images of high school yearbooks and homecoming games, not an art exhibit featuring work from more than 50 senior undergraduates in the UCLA Art Department. Yet in many ways, “Kinross High,” the senior art exhibition opening at Kinross Building, is exactly that – a snapshot of the senior undergraduate class and the work they have produced throughout their years at UCLA.

The exhibit, which opens today and runs through March 2, is in the New Wight Gallery, located in the Kinross Building. Opening night will feature food, music and performances, beginning at 5 p.m.

The art department holds one juried exhibition a year, which took place this past fall quarter. Juried shows reflect a central point of view, based on the ideas of the curator. But the senior exhibition is more of a favorite among students as the seniors select their own works to be displayed and install the works in the gallery.

“Because the show is self-curated, it will be more varied. Any cohesion will be a matter of serendipity,” said Don Suggs, the faculty coordinator for the senior show.

The works on display include a variety of mediums, with paintings, sculptures, installations and video, and will even feature collaborative efforts, such as an exhibition from the VidArt club. Fourth-year art students Jamie Chan and Morgan Wells, along with other members from VidArt, will submit a large installation that includes several sculptures.

Most students say they draw artistic inspiration from each other as well as their professors. In the art department students look to their professors for guidance and advice and feel that the professors talk to them as equals. They see the professors as “living the art dream,” since they are primarily professionals in their chosen field of art, and teachers second. The art students feel privileged to be a part of such a close community.

“On main campus, you’re not a name, you’re just another student milling around,” fourth-year art student Lia Lowenthal said.

The appreciation of the student-professor relationship is mutual, according to Suggs.

“At UCLA, we are fortunate enough to get our pick of high-quality applicants, which are screened for academic quality as well. As a result, we have many gifted students,” Suggs said.

Although the seniors enjoy the community they feel within their own college, they also acknowledge the importance of a diverse education obtained through general education classes. Many art students also pursue a second major, or come into the art major from the UCLA College. Inspiration for their work often comes through experiences throughout campus, as students find their school life blurs with their artwork.

In addition to displaying this artwork, the exhibit will also involve a panel discussion, which will take place in late February in the Wight Gallery. The panel consists of both professors and students, including photographer and Professor Walead Beshty, artist and theorist Mary Kelly, and undergraduate students Jasmine Little and Wells.

“The goal of the panel will be to engage the work exhibited, talk about the school as a contemporary art education, and to discuss the greater Los Angeles influence,” Chan said, speaking as one of the students helping to organize the event.

As a senior exhibition, “Kinross High” is one of the last events the students will participate in at UCLA before heading off to new ventures.

“The UCLA Art Department has been gratified, in recent years, at placing many of our undergrads in high-caliber graduate art programs,” Suggs said.

“But undergraduate art students also explore other options, including advanced study in other fields, professional employment in a wide variety of arts related industries, and a considerable number bypass graduate school and go directly into successful careers as exhibiting artists after graduation.”