The William B. Conroy Honors College’s third annual Honors Art Exhibition titled “The Collective Awareness” debuted on Friday, Nov. 22. This year’s theme asked, “what do you value?” and gave NMSU students of all majors the task of creating a visual representation of what they treasure.
The annual art show allows students to showcase their hidden talents or unlock new passions every fall semester. Jennell Juarez was the student curator of this year’s show and chose the theme to “promote authentic connections and meaningful conversations.”
Under Juarez’s theme, 48 pieces were created and displayed. From paintings, sculptures, photography, and even floral designs there was no limit to the creativity of the participants.
An event this large couldn’t be arranged by just one person, and Juarez had volunteers like student Thahec Arreola and Center for the Undergraduate Research and Creativity Activity employee Devynne Hadley to help.
Arreola credits Juarez’s goal-setting personality as the reason she became interested in working behind-the-scenes of the exhibit.
“[Juarez] actually organized and curated the event, and I volunteered to help her, you know, help support her in that, you know, huge endeavor,” Arreola said.
Hadley is a self-proclaimed lover of art and enjoys finding beauty in life.
“I just love to support the arts,” Hadley said. “I’m not an artist myself, but I do find that it just captures the beauty of life, and I appreciate that.”
An award ceremony was held during the opening night. Every artist received a recognition award for their work and effort in the gallery. There was an award given by the Encounters with Art class and the Curator’s Choice Award chosen by the curators. Additionally, a People’s Choice Award, where the attendees voted to decide the winner, was announced as well.
Ai Khuyen Prasad’s “In Another Life” won the Choice of Encounters with Art Award, and two winners were selected for the Curator’s Choice Award: the NMSU Floral Team’s “Floral Arrangement” and Maxine Burford’s “Free Spirit (Floral Arrangement).” Carolina Cardenas’ “Threads of Unity” won the People’s Choice Award.
Cardenas is a nursing major who decided to sign-up to be in the gallery after Juarez visited the Encounters with Art class. “Threads of Unity” is an acrylic and thread project on canvas about human connections, inspired by her friendship with her friend Sara.
“When you’re in college, it’s really hard to connect with people and in general, whether you’re in work or just in the community, and it just so happens that sometimes you meet one person and just you click instantly,” Cardenas said. “You just end up talking to them once and you click, and you end up sharing your whole life story with them.”
Art has always served as a form of communication and self-expression. This gallery allowed Aggie artists to share their thoughts and feelings with spectators using messages that went beyond a spoken language. All the artists were recognized for their effort and energy put into their projects that contributed to Juarez’s hopes for the exhibition.
“I believe the purpose [of the exhibit] is to reach out to the community,” Arreola said. “I think Jennell put out an invitation. She said, ‘artists come share your work,’ and people from the community absolutely answered.”
The exhibit will be open and available for viewing until February 2025.
