Young Contemporaries 2024

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Young Contemporaries 2024
40th Annual Juried Student Exhibition

Apr 18 - May 4, 2024
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 18, 5 - 7PM

The Laband Art Gallery’s Annual Juried Student Exhibition is open to all students who have enrolled in a Studio Arts course during the past school year. The Laband encourages students to submit their best work in any media of their choosing including drawing, printmaking, photography, painting, graphic design, sculpture, and multimedia. We invite two professionals who are active in the contemporary art world to serve as co-jurors. Now in its 40th year, this exhibition serves as an excellent first professional experience or student artists and celebrates their burgeoning creativity.

Generous support for the exhibition is provided by The Friedman Family in memory of Andrea Kingaard Friedman '66.

Image: View of Young Contemporaries 2023 Opening Reception at the Laband

Meet the Jurors

Rody N. Lopez
Rody is the Executive Director of Craft Contemporary, a celebrated museum located in Los Angeles’s Miracle Mile district. A native of Guatemala, Lopez holds an MFA in Exhibition Design from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), and a BA in Studio Art from Pomona College. His professional background includes curating critically acclaimed exhibitions and contributing to various publications. Prior to his role at Craft Contemporary, Lopez worked at the Long Beach Museum of Art, the American Museum of Ceramic Art, and, most recently as the Director of Development and Communications for QueensCare & QueensCare Health Centers—a faith-based charitable entity offering essential healthcare to underserved communities in Los Angeles. (Photo credit: Eric Stoner)
shoulder length brown hair woman headshot
Erin Mallea
Erin is an Assistant Professor of Art at Penn State University’s School of Visual Arts. Mallea received a BA in Studio Art and Art History from Loyola Marymount University in 2012, and an MFA in Visual Art from Carnegie Mellon University in 2019. Her work has been exhibited at galleries, museums, and DIY spaces nationally and internationally, including the Boise Art Museum (Boise, ID), A.I.R. Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Laband Art Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), Miller ICA (Pittsburgh, PA), and Melanie Flood Projects (Portland, OR), among others. She grew up in the Mountain West and is currently based in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo credit: Elisa Cevallos)

2024 Jurors' and Director's Awards

Jurors' First Prize

Clarabelle Sullivan '25
"The Hunt,” 2023
Oil on canvas

Jurors' Second Prize

Steven Hu ‘25
"Manzanar,” 2024
Medium-format color film photographs
printed on archival paper

Jurors' Third Prize

Sophia Bailey ‘24
Throne of Projections, Hair Chair, 2024
Batting, cardboard, fabric, foam, paper clay, resin, thread and wood

Jurors' Honorable Mention


Eseroghenerukevwe Ovbagbedia ‘25
“Masking,” 2024
Acrylic on wood

Tina Rudasingwa ‘24
“Ichara Neza: Exile Syndrome,” 2023
Video montage

Reilly Talbot ‘25
“School Zone,” 2024
Linocut print

Benjamin Wood ‘24
“Windows of Our Past,” 2024
Digital prints

Grace Swanson Painting Award

Sophia Imhoff ‘24
I Like Fish II,” 2023
Acrylic on canvas

Ashley Nowell ‘25
“Enchanted Deception,” 2024
Acrylic on canvas

Laband Director’s Award

Erick Meza ‘25
“Small Business Owners,” 2023
Large format color film prints