‘Whiskers and Whiskey’ Project Takes Top Honor In Wright Gallery Student Exhibition
Corain Marneweck received a Best in Show Wright Gallery Scholarship at the closing reception for the “Fresh Forward” student exhibition on Wednesday afternoon.
The annual Wright Gallery exhibition features student projects from the Texas A&M School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts and School of Architecture from summer 2022 to spring 2023.
Marneweck won for her diorama “Whiskers and Whiskey: Where Felines Unwind.” It features a three-dimensional scene enclosed in a box, and the viewer can look through a small cutout to see three cats at a bar. One is “a little too drunk off of milk,” while a cat bartender shrugs and a third cat is “obviously appalled by the whole scene,” Marneweck said.
The sophomore in the Visualization program constructed the diorama with foam board and popsicle sticks, and the characters were sculpted with clay. Her project was created in the Visualization class Principles of Design II, taught by Senior Lecturer Dmitiri Koustov.
The bar scene was inspired by Marneweck’s cat and two of her friends’ cats, she said, who are each depicted in the piece. During the design process, Marneweck said she had to plan according to lighting, perspective and scale, all while creating a scene. She recalled hoping everything would stay glued together and remain in place when she turned in the project.
“It was really unexpected,” she said of winning the scholarship. “I did not expect it to get Best in Show because there is some amazing stuff here.”
Three student projects earned honorable mention recognition:
- “Bottle Tabs & Newspaper,” a dress made from newspaper, by Sara Cruz Rodriguez, Angelyne Kham, Camden Maddox, Cole Eckhardt, Jacob Hou, Kate Lynn Nolan, Kylie Peters and Kevin Kim. The project was created in the Dress in World Cultures class, taught by Grace Adinku, lecturer in Performance Studies.
- “Afterlife,” a video about losing a loved one, by Sophie Lee. This was created in the fall courses Time-based Media I and Video and Time-Based Media, taught by Krista Steinke-Finch, assistant professor in Visualization.
- “Parametric Planting System,” a unique planting structure, created by Samantha Garza, Kaitlyn Senelick, Emma Dowd and Cole McDowell. This was created in the School of Architecture’s Architectural Design class, taught by Sora Key, assistant professor.
Rebecca Pugh, instructional assistant professor and Wright Gallery curator, said the honors were selected by distinguished guest juror Mark Chen, a photographic artist, educator and author from Houston. Chen was chosen through a committee made up of faculty members from both schools.
The next Wright Gallery exhibition is “Caracas Moderna” by artist Marian Ichaso Lefeld, which opens Sept. 18 and continues through Oct. 26, with a closing reception and artist talk on the final day.
Top photo: Tim McLaughlin, interim dean of the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, and Rebecca Pugh, instructional assistant professor and Wright Gallery curator, presented Corain Marneweck with the Best in Show Wright Gallery Scholarship. Photo by John Peters, School of Architecture.
