West Virginia University School of Art and Design undergraduate and graduate students are showing their recent work at the Artists Image Resource (AIR) gallery in Pittsburgh through April 11.

Two exhibitions titled “Commensalism” and “Confluence” are on view at the gallery, located at 518 Foreland Street. The Artists Image Resource is a non-profit gallery and the fine art press located on Pittsburgh’s north side. This will be the fourth annual WVU School of Art and Design student exhibition at AIR.

A reception for the exhibition will be on April 11 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the gallery. All events are free and open to the public.

According to WVU Printmaking coordinator Joseph Lupo, the “Commensalism” exhibit features three WVU undergraduate printmaking students, Jordan Welsh, Jessica Poole and Allison Smith. The show includes artwork they made during a semester-long residency at AIR.

Lupo said the School of Art and Design printmaking program has been sending student interns to AIR since 2004. The students travel to Pittsburgh one day a week to work on current AIR projects and they get to make their own artwork using AIR’s facilities.

“Both the internship and exhibition are unique aspects to the School of Art and Design printmaking program. It is unusual for undergraduate students from any art program to have the opportunity to show their work at an established gallery like AIR,” Lupo said.

“I have been extremely lucky to have the support of both the WVU School of Art and Design faculty and Artists Image Resource staff in developing programming like these exhibitions and the AIR Internship over the years. I believe that the relationship we have developed with AIR has a strong and important educational impact on our students.”

The proximity of the WVU Creative Arts Center to AIR, and the close relationship between AIR Director Robert Beckman and Lupo has nurtured this distinctive program.

The exhibition “Confluence” features artwork made by WVU School of Art and Design graduate students. This show will feature ceramics, printmaking and sculpture. Master of Fine Art students Ryan Brislawn, Ashley DeMotto, Nate Ditzler, Megan Gainer, Violet Goode, Jake Guzan, Brett Herron, Kaitlyn Hunter, Andrew Kellner, Heather Rios and Xia Zhang will all be exhibiting their most recent work.

For more information, contact Joseph Lupo at Joseph.Lupo@mail.wvu.edu or phone 304-293-2703.

For more information about Artists Image Resource, contact Robert Beckman at rbeckman@artistsimageresource.org.

-WVU-

tl/03/10/15

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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