The circumstances required the students and their professor, Tim Castle, to be innovative with the fall 2021 art exhibition, so they opted to make it virtual.

Castle said the idea emerged when they did it for the first time back in the spring of 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It worked well then, so they decided to try it again.

“A lot of people enjoy going to look at these art pieces that the students did, but it was very heartbreaking knowing that we wouldn’t have an art exhibit,” said Savannah Frohwein, MCC student and member of a participating painting class. “We just had to have an exhibit some way, so we thought of a virtual one.”

Castle had each of his students from all of the participating art classes choose three of their favorite pieces to be photographed and put together in a video. While this shows only the highlights of the student’s work and isn’t as comprehensive as a live show would be, Castle still felt it was a good way to make up for the lack of an in-person exhibition.

Painting student Annalissa Haubrich holds one of the three art pieces displayed in the Fall 2021 MCC Student Art Exhibit. This year’s exhibit was displayed online as the on-campus gallery is currently under construction.

“It gives students public exposure for their work. Art, after all, is meant to be seen,” Castle said.

Another MCC painting student, Annalissa Haubrich, was disappointed with not having her work displayed on campus.

“There’s a little bit of disappointment because that was always one of my favorite parts about finals week, going to the gallery when you just had a random bit of time to look at the artwork,” Haubrich said. “I feel like it being on the website makes it a little bit less accessible to students just because a lot of students aren’t checking the main website.”

Even though it wasn’t what Haubrich had hoped, she was still glad they were able to find an alternative that worked. Haubrich also said the class itself was a great experience, pushing her to experiment with other mediums she had been hesitant to try previously.

“(Professor Castle) started us off working with oils, and before this class, I was terrified to touch oil (paints). I thought it would be really difficult, but we started working with it and I fell in love,” Haubrich said.

All of the pieces she chose for the gallery were paintings she made using oil paints.

Once the newly constructed art exhibit is complete in early 2022, the fall 2021 students will have the opportunity to display their pieces physically. Until then, the exhibit, which features a wide range of art in a variety of mediums, can be viewed on the community college website at https://mcc.iavalley.edu/art.

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Contact Susanna Meyer at 641-753-6611 or

smeyer@timesrepublican.com.