SUNY Oswego’s Design Club kicked off their student exhibition March 31 in Tyler Hall’s second floor corner art gallery.
This exhibition is only the club’s second since reforming in the fall of 2021 after having been inactive for some time. Club President Andjela Djapa said that the organization’s members have been hard at work to revitalize the newly reinstated Design Club.
“It’s been really challenging, but the club members are very passionate, hardworking and really want to keep this going,” Djapa said. “I will say that this year’s exhibition has grown compared to the previous one.”
Part of the club’s success in these early stages has been its openness to all students who have an interest in the arts, rather than just graphic design majors and minors. This inclusivity is reflected in the diversity of the pieces on display in the exhibition, according to club Secretary Annabel Sharrin.
“It’s not just graphic design. There’s illustration, there’s sculptures, there’s so many different things, so it really ranges on what you expect,” Sharrin said. “It’s all different aspects of art. There’s some printed, there’s some that are digital, there’s physical art pieces, like statues and stuff. It’s different art pieces from all over the place.”
According to Djapa, the club received around 60 submissions for the exhibition from roughly 45 artists, mostly undergraduate arts majors. Notably, there were submissions from some students outside of the arts, as well as graduate students and even some faculty.
The reception also featured a live musical performance from Oswego staff members Amber Saint Joy playing violin and Dorren Allen-Carr playing piano.
Prizes were also given out based on popular votes to those whose work was deemed exceptional. Adrienne Licata won the professor vote for her piece, “Stress,” and Laurel Burch won the public vote for their piece, “Buttons.”
Djapa said that she is impressed with what the club has been able to do, and believes that they will continue to be in good hands after her graduation, when current vice president Aujanai McClure takes over as president.
“I’d like to believe that once I leave here, the next president, who is going to be Aujanai, will be taking this to the next level,” Djapa said.
The exhibition will continue through April 10 in Tyler’s corner gallery. For more information on Design Club, view their page on lakerlife.oswego.edu or visit their Instagram page @ozdesignclub.
Photo by: Collin Knapp
