NC State has developed an exciting new program for student artists to earn money and recognition.  

On April 7 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Talley Student Union, Arts NC State will host their first ever student art purchase. Student artists will have the opportunity to submit up to two works to be purchased by other students, faculty members and the general public. 

This is the first public art sale held at NC State; however, the new program is a direct offshoot of an already existing program of the university. In 2001, NC State began to hold an annual contest to showcase artistic talent around campus. The contest focused on visual art such as drawings, paintings and sculptures. Students from any college were able to submit their artwork into the contest. 

After each student’s piece was reviewed by a jury of five to six judges, around five pieces of art were purchased by the university for display around campus. These works can now be seen and enjoyed in venues such as the Witherspoon Student Center, the Student Health Center and eventually the new Talley Student Union. 

This contest has seen large-scale growth since its inception. Since 2001, the school has purchased 128 pieces of student art. At that time, only 10 works of art were entered into the contest, but recent years’ entries have increased to nearly 50 pieces of art. 

The increasing number of entries and the overall quality of the entries caused many excellent works of art to be rejected for purchase by the university. 

“I felt bad that some very good art was not purchased by the university,” Amy Sawyers, the Coordinator of Arts Outreach for Arts NC State, said. 

Sawyers also became concerned that the university’s art purchase would need to be decreased due to limited areas to display the art, meaning even more great pieces would have to be rejected. 

Fortunately, students and faculty members began to express interest in purchasing student artwork. This became the spark for the new public art sale. 

The student art purchase will be conducted very similarly to the original contest. Students will bring their art to Talley Student Union on April 7 from 9:00 a.m. to noon. During the three hours of the sale, anyone will able to view and purchase the art. Students will be notified if their art is purchased later in the day.  The university still plans on buying at least one student art piece for its permanent collection. Roger Manley, the interim vice provost and director of the Gregg Museum of Art & Design, will select this piece. 

Though excited, Sawyers does not know what to expect for the upcoming art sale. 

“I do not know if 50 or 200 art pieces will come in or how many people will come to purchase them,” Sawyers said. 

Sawyers hopes that the new format for the student art sale will allow more students to receive hard-earned recognition and honor for their art. 

“This art sale is unique and special because we don’t have a major in visual art but we still support our student artists,” Sawyers said.