Student art on display at Steffen Thomas Museum of Art

This spring, twenty senior art students had exhibitions across the Central Savannah River Area.

These exhibitions were part of the senior capstone class and one of the final college requirements for art students.

“The capstone class is designed to be a bridge out of the university and into the art world, and every assignment students complete goes public,” explains Kristin Casaletto, professor of art.

Casaletto teaches the capstone course and each student is assigned a mentor, but the students do all the work for their exhibition themselves. This includes framing and matting their work, writing proposals for gallery space and giving a public artist’s talk that lasts approximately 15 minutes.

“I never had a class like this when I was in school, and I wish I had,” said Casaletto. “We talk about everything. In addition to teaching students how to get their work in a gallery, we talk about contracts, taxes, and how to run a studio.”

As the spring semester comes to a close, the senior capstone exhibitions come down, but only temporarily.

All twenty members of the capstone class will have pieces from their senior exhibition on display at the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art in Buckhead, Georgia as part of a show titled Placing the Capstone III, through May. Placing the Capstone III is part of the College Connections program at the museum.

The College Connections program is a partnership with Augusta University that allows graduating art students to have their works featured in a museum exhibition. This partnership provides students with a resume-building activity and gives them a public forum to talk about their work and plans post-graduation.

Placing the Capstone III opened at the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art on April 30 and will be on display through May 27. The exhibition is free and open to the public and will include painting, photography, sculpture and ceramics. The museum is open Tuesday – Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Learn more about the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art.