From February 17 through March 7, the 2025 Annual Juried Student Show was held at Ford Gallery. This showcase was organized by the Intermediate Gallery Group (IGG) and was supported by the Ellen Wilot Endowment.
According to the Eastern Michigan University Galleries website, this exhibition was open to all enrolled EMU students, and the proceeds collected from the show will go toward IGG programming. This year, the event welcomed guest juror Takeisha Jefferson, a local artist recognized for her portraiture storytelling.
At this event, visitors admired various art forms and styles. According to EMU senior, IGG co-president, and 2024 Annual Juried Student Show winner Paris Stinson, “There’s a lot of ceramic work. We have a digital video playing right now.” As well as sculptures, paintings, and more, which can be seen in the video made by Quanzelle Wyatt, an Eastern Echo reporter.
On Thursday, February 20, Wyatt attended the exhibition, where he spoke directly with a five artists, including senior student Christopher Carson, who presented an oil pastel on paper titled “Cookie Mirror Observation;” junior student Lily Elliot, with a fiber art piece called “Incubate;” and junior artist Aya Bazzi’s “Dealer,” a charcoal piece on paper.
After 5:30 p.m., once the award ceremony began, Jefferson elected three student artworks to receive a cash prize.
“I feel like standing on their own, they all really had something to say. But I had to pick three, and so you know, some of them weren’t even what I look at the conversation is. It was hard to even put them against each other,” Jefferson revealed.
As she states in the video, each piece has individuality. According to Elliot, her artwork “Incubate” represented Elliot’s reaction to the current climate surrounding women’s rights with consideration to the recent presidential election.
The 2025 first-place winner was Fatemeha Honarvar with her architectural design and sculpture.
If interested in attending future gallery events, go to https://www.emugalleries.org/.
Ford Gallery is located at 114 Ford Hall. Hours of operation include Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
To take a look at the students' artwork and hear what they had to say about their pieces in the 2025 Annual Juried Student Show video above.
