The artworks of MGCCC Harrison County Campus students will be featured in the Annual Spring Student Art Exhibit and Competition in the Fine Art Gallery through April 30, with a reception and awards presentation on April 30 at noon.  

The entries are comprised of projects made in Drawing, Design, Painting and Digital Art courses.

“The student show is my favorite gallery exhibit of the year,” said Cecily Cummings, 2-D art instructor. “My students and I get to see how much they’ve grown artistically over the course of the year, and the campus and public get to see their creativity and versatility in styles and subject matter.”

Among the students showcased in the exhibit is Paige Blair of Biloxi.

“My art style and process follow similar routes in being bold and sketchy often with bright colors and bold lines. I find messier art for my process helps me loosen up and have fun with it as opposed to being rigid with my lines,” she said. “A reason why I love watercolors so much is that it gives that looser style to help me push out of my comfort zone.” After graduating from MGCCC, Paige plans to transfer to Greensboro University and study graphic design.

Susanne Roberts, an Arkansas attorney, retired to Gulfport with her husband after looking from Galveston to Key West for the perfect place.  An Army brat, she discovered art early when she visited many castles and museums, foreign and domestic, with her art-loving parents. She is a woodworker who has had furniture twice exhibited by the Arkansas Arts museum.

Miranda Stockert of Gulfport is a mother of three, full-time student, and homeschool teacher.

“Art is at the core of who I am, and learning alongside my children is a huge blessing,” she said. “My whole life I got into trouble for drawing or putting ‘too much’ work into projects, but now I know it was worth the trouble.”

She said creating, drawing, and painting have been her saving grace, and now she has a beautiful life to share. “I am excited to open my own studio to teach others at risk how to express themselves through their art, too,” she said.

Freshman Scarlett Triplett of Biloxi has enjoyed drawing from a young age but did not start taking it seriously until shortly before her first year of high school.

“Even though I am not majoring in art, preferring mechanical engineering, I still intend to take an artistic approach to my work,” she said. In her spare time, she enjoys many different mediums, including painting, crafting, and crochet. Her primary method of creating art lies in pencil landscapes, figures, and still lives.

Velvet Davis of Biloxi loved working with watercolors, acrylic, and digital mediums when she was a younger artist, but while attending MGCCC she discovered her love for oil paints.

“I’m very grateful for the many opportunities to grow as an artist and to have such an encouraging professor, it truly has been a pleasant surprise how much my art has evolved and grown while attending here,” she said.

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

The Harrison County Campus is located at 2226 Switzer Road, Gulfport. The Art Gallery is in the Fine Arts building, Building D.

 Gallery hours are 8 A.M. to 3 P.M. Monday through Friday.

For more information, contact Cecily.Cummings@mgccc.edu or 228-897-3909