Two students in the Department of Art & Art History, Nicole Thrower and Ajané Williams, have had their work accepted into nationally juried shows.
Nicole Thrower, who is pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in print media, is one of 13 award-winners in the Rare Artist Contest, a national contest presented by the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases. The EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to advocacy and scientific advancement in addressing rare illnesses.
The Rare Artist Contest is open to the rare disease community, including patients, caregivers, physicians, friends, and family members. Nicole’s younger brother, Joshua, has Phelan McDermid Syndrome.
Chosen from more than 400 contest submissions, Nicole’s award-winning painting is called Eating Is Hard. “With this painting I set out to bring attention to an aspect of the rare disease community that may typically be overlooked by others – feeding and/or eating,” she wrote in an artist statement.
The 13 Rare Artist Contest winners will receive cash awards and the opportunity to present their work and speak during Rare Disease Week on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, July 19-22. Their artwork will also be showcased throughout the year at various patient and biopharmaceutical conferences.
Ajané Williams is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting. Her monoprint/collage, Searching for my Reflections/Filling in the Gaps within my Soul I, was selected by juror Ryan O'Malley, associate professor of art at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, Texas, for the printmaking juried exhibition presented by the In Art Gallery. The In Art Gallery is an online gallery based out of Edwardsville, Illinois, that presents digital exhibitions chosen by national jurors.
“Searching for my Reflections/Filling in the Gaps within my Soul is a series based on a spiritual epiphany I had,” Williams wrote in an artist statement. “Whatever you surround yourself with is a reflection of you. Every time you make a connection with someone or something, that touches you on a deeper level or a soul level, they are just shedding light on a part of your soul that you didn’t know you had. Once you realize you have that, you are filling in that gap within your soul. You found that reflection. I am you and you are me.”
Last July, a mixed-media abstract work by Williams, Pandemonium II, was featured in an exhibition at Gallery C3, a gallery in Charlotte’s South End district.