The 7th Annual National Juried Exhibition will be held in the Charles W. and Norma C. Carroll Gallery at Marshall University’s Visual Arts Center from Jan. 8 to Feb. 16. There will be an awards reception on Tuesday, Jan. 23 from 4 to 6 p.m. and an awards ceremony beginning at 5 p.m.

The 7th Annual National Juried Exhibition will feature art by 35 artists from across the nation. Artists work in many different mediums with different subjects, making this an all media show. This year they have their first out of country winner.

James Murphy from Cork, Ireland is one of the winners in this year’s exhibition. He is the first person to win and have his art displayed in the Annual National Juried Exhibition.

“This year I’m extra excited because we had one artist from Ireland and this is the first time we’ve had someone outside of the country be in the show,” Gallery Director Melissa Yungbluth said.

Every year, the gallery hires a juror to decide what art will be displayed and who will win awards. This exhibition was juried by Bill May, Director of the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. May was hired by Yungbluth to jury the exhibition.

“He’s somebody that I admire and he has excellent taste,” Yungbluth said, “and I thought it would be interesting to have a craft person jury an all media show.”

The show was created seven years ago by faculty at the School of Art and Design as a way to generate revenue and a place for students and other artists alike to display their work.

“Artists always want to have a space to show their work,” Yungbluth said. “So I’m hoping this will allow them to discover Marshall University and Huntington.”

Yungbluth is hopeful that the students who didn’t have their art displayed will be inspired and learn something from seeing another artists’ work in the gallery.

“The goal for any exhibition is that students in this building will go down to the gallery and learn something,” Yungbluth said. She said community members and anyone else who views the art will be more aware of artists nationwide and she wants them to be inspired or surprised by the work they see.

Yungbluth enjoys taking part in the exhibition and seeing all the work from artists. This will be her second year as a part of this exhibition and her excitement hasn’t faded.

“When I’m unwrapping all the art that gets sent in it feels like Christmas Day,” Yungbluth said.

The Marshall University School of Art and Design will continue to hold events such as this gallery and showcase artists’ works.

Michaela Crittenden can be contacted at [email protected].