Photo: Shown are Art Department award winners and winners from Roane State’s Student Art Show. From left: Abigail Ellis, Debbee Clark representing her husband Archie Clark, Maya Collins, Julia Clymer and Abigail Hammitt. In front is Laura Looney.
April 28, 2022
By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer
An Oak Ridge High School junior who’s taking dual enrollment classes offered by Roane State won Best of Show and $300 in the revived Spring Student Art Show at the community college.
Abigail Ellis took the top prize for her photograph shot inside an abandoned school bus left to rust behind Warehouse Road in Oak Ridge.
Photo: Abigail Ellis, a junior at Oak Ridge High, is shown next to her Best of Show entry in the revived Student Art Show at Roane State.
The show, sponsored by the Roane State Art Department, was exhibited in the O’Brien Art Gallery on the college’s main campus in Roane County.
The juried art show has been an annual event until it was derailed for two years by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s held in the spring just before graduation.
This year’s juror was acclaimed Ohio artist Steve Stelling, who selected artwork for the competition and then picked the winners. Ninety artworks were submitted, and 25 were picked for the show.
Cash prizes of $300 for best of show to $50 for the pair of honorable mentions were primarily funded by faculty contributions.
Faculty members, including art professors Stacy Jacobs and Bryan Wilkerson, organized the event. Wilkerson said the show “is a valuable opportunity for students to hone their skills and gain critical exhibition experience.”
Other show winners include Maya Collins in second place with a $150 cash prize, Abigail Hammitt in third place winning $75, Laura Looney with the Art Spirit Award and $75, and Maya Collins and Julia Clymer, both honorable mentions winning $50 each.
Art department winners were also recognized. Abigail Hammitt won the Outstanding Achievement in Art Award while Archie Clark took home the Anne Powers Promise Award, which is awarded to a student of exceptional promise.
Additional information on Roane State’s art department, including facilities such as the O’Brien Art Gallery, is available online at academics.roanestate.edu/art.
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