Gallery seeking ‘Art in Isolation’ submissions

05/13/2020 

Dowd Gallery director Jaroslava Prihodova has a hunch that students are making art as a way to overcome the boredom and stress of the COVID-19 lockdown in their homes.

In fact, she’s got a feeling that enough student creativity is flowing at the moment for her to put together a forthcoming two-dimensional virtual exhibition.

Prihodova is asking for students to send in pictures of their work in the form of digital images so she can share them with the campus and community during a future “Art from Isolation” exhibition.

The gallery is currently closed to the public. Participants will have their work included in an online exhibition published on the Dowd Gallery website. Students’ artistic efforts also will be promoted on social media.

“Were you creative while in isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic?” she asked in her dgital invitation to the campus community. “Share your art in an online, virtual exhibition.”

A dozen pieces of artwork were submitted already, but Prihodova has extended the deadline for students to share their artwork until midnight on Tuesday, May 19.

“I am sure they were all swamped facing the end of the semester,” Prihodova said.

All SUNY Cortland students are welcome to submit work for the virtual art exhibition. There is no limit to the number of works each student can submit.

Participants may submit their original piece of artwork produced during the quarantine in the form of a jpg image, sized at 72 dots per inch (DPI).

When submitting their piece, participants are asked to include their name, graduating class and major; the artwork’s title, medium, dimension and location where the individual created the object.

Photographs of 3D works should be captured on a neutral background, preferably on a white backdrop.

Make sure the image is clear, the object in focus and centered in the frame and without unnecessary clutter, Prihodova said. 

Acceptable works for the exhibition include animation, graphic design, video, land art, installation, mural, objects, ceramics, sculpture, fiber art, mixed media projects, sculpture, design, prints, photographs, painting, drawing, illustration, collage, jewelry, DIY projects, etc.

For more information on making a submission, contact Prihodova.

Two professional staff members with the university’s Marketing Department, Renee Novelli, senior visual media specialist, and Casey Hickey, senior web and digital marketing specialist, will help prepare the images for the slide show on the gallery’s website. 

The director soon will meet with Art and Art History Department faculty to determine the timing and scope of the summer exhibition. Dates will be announced soon.

“We have about a dozen submissions so far, but are expecting more once the semester concludes, especially from students taking our art courses,” Prihodova said.

Above left image: Samantha Reali submitted her oil on canvas work, “The Missing,” for the upcoming 2D exhibition. A Staten Island resident, Reali plans to graduate in 2021 with a studio art degree.