SU holds student art show
SALISBURY, Md – Thursday, Salisbury University held an art show–and sale–for advanced painting students to participate in.
Students got to show off their pieces and had a chance to make some cash by selling their work.
“At first I was like, people like my painting?” Momina Waheed, a senior at Salisbury University, recently sold two of her pieces. While she said she doesn’t paint because she expects people to like it–it can be very validating when others show that they value her work: “People motivate me, when people buy [my work], it motivates me. Then it’s kind of tells me like, ‘You’re doing right things keep it going.’
For Momina, who moved here when she was 14, painting became an outlet. It was a way to express how she feels and what she cares about in a way that’s comfortable for her: “I was very quiet. I couldn’t talk much. So when I took painting, I was taught: talking, myself, my expression, my ideas through my painting.”
Brea Branch, a junior, did have prints for sale. But more than anything, she was excited for her peers to see her work.
Brea echoed Momina’s sentiment about sometimes struggling to find the right words, saying that painting can open doors in communication that otherwise wouldn’t be there: “It helps me to kind of relate to people, but also for people to understand what’s going on in my mind.”
Professor Jinchul Kim, who’s been teaching at SU for 28 years, said its important for students to experience showing their personal work to the public. It’s something that benefits not just the artist, but everyone involved. Professor Kim noted that the University recently added ‘Painting 1’ as a general education course, saying, “We opened up the possibility that art is not only for art majors, it’s directly related with, you know, human dynamics…And it’s hard to divide one specific way nowadays, because everything is kind of connected in a certain way.”
“Art is not a luxury. It is vital, and it is sustenance. And just like we need food, and we need a house to live, art is part of it,” Professor Kim said.
Professor Kim also noted that some of his students have gone on to become art therapists, helping others with their creativity.
If you’re interested in seeing the work of current students, you can visit the senior art exhibition at 212 West Main Street in the former Gallery Building in downtown Salisbury, until May 17.
