WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Nov. 20, 2019 — West Liberty University Department of Visual Art was well represented in the current West Virginia Juried Exhibition on display now in Charleston, W.Va.
Retired Professor of Art Bob Villamagna, who taught at WLU for 20 years, received the top award, the Governor’s Award which carried with it a $5,000 cash prize.
Associate Professor of Art Martyna Matusiak won an Award of Excellence and $2,000.
“Our faculty members had a very impressive showing at the juried exhibition last weekend. Retired professor Bob Villamagna’s artwork called ‘Siblings’ and Martyna’s work called ‘Soft at the Edges’ are now part of the permanent collection of the West Virginia State Museum. I congratulate them on their work,” said Dr. Matthew Harder, Dean of the College of Arts and Communication.
This was Matusiak’s first time entering the annual exhibition, sponsored by the Department of Arts, Culture and History.
“I am so grateful to the West Virginia Commission on the Arts and thank them for this award,” Matusiak said. A native of Poland, Matusiak has been teaching at WLU since 2012 and is a native of Poland.
Also selected for display in the juried exhibition is a work by Professor Jim Haizlett, a sculpture entitled “The Rumor Weed.”
A total of three artists won Governor’s Awards and seven took home Awards of Excellence. There were an additional eight Merit Awards ($500) selected.
Governor’s Awards and Awards of Excellence are purchase awards. Merit Awards and all other works, except those marked NFS (Not for Sale) are available for purchase at the exhibition, which is open to the public.
Jurors for the exhibition included Sarah Hall, chief curator and director of collections at the Frick, Pittsburgh and Jennifer Dasal, curator of modern and contemporary art at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, N.C.
The West Virginia Juried Exhibition remains on display at the Culture Center in the State Capitol complex through Feb. 18, 2020. For more information, please call 304.558.0220 of visit wvculture.org.
WLU’s Department of Visual Arts is housed within the College of Arts and Communication and offers bachelor degrees in Art Education, Visual Communication Design, Digital Media Design and Creative Arts Therapy.
For complete information, please visit westliberty.edu/art or call 304-336-8006.