Trout Gallery

The senior seminar is the capstone experience of the studio art concentration in the Department of Art & Art History at Dickinson College. This exhibition is the culmination of an intensive period of artistic development that spans both semesters of the senior year. During this time, students are pushed to challenge their notions of art and develop a unified body of work that is equally considerate of both technical and conceptual aspects. True to the nature of a liberal arts education, students are encouraged to think across boundaries and draw from four years of rigorous learning and life experience in order to explore the ideas that have captivated them.

The title of this year's exhibition, Not in Show, is a reference to all of the work made that will not be seen in the exhibition. The works in the exhibition are the success stories. It took many failed works and a strong sense of resolve in order to get to this point. Specifically, what Not in Show also attempts to address are the unknown aspects in the process of creation, the struggles that take place in and out of the studio, and the moments of surprise discovery and seeming defeat. If the students in the seminar learned anything through the course of the year, it is that any worthwhile endeavor takes much work and persistence. More than leaving Dickinson with a strong portfolio, it is our hope that students leave with a resilience and stubbornness that allow them to work through situations that will continue to confront them both in and out of the studio.