Over the fall semester, two exhibitions at the student-run ShiftSpace gallery have not only given art students another opportunity to express themselves but also experience in a professional gallery setting.
The first exhibition, “Kaleidoscope,” closed on October 31st, 2025, but the second exhibition, “Crosscurrents,” is open until Nov. 21st.
According to junior Aiden Wondra, a student in the Studio Tools and Presentation class, who participated in “Crosscurrents,” the professors usually schedule the shows and figure out logistics. From there, the students either come up with a concept or elaborate on one pitched by their instructors.
“For this show, it was completely self-student driven, so we started everything,” Wondra said. “The only thing that we did not do was schedule the space, because that’s not what we normally do. But everything else was completely student-led, and I think it turned out pretty good. “
The planning for “Crosscurrents” was marked by the students’ decision to group four pieces by one artist in the same area of the gallery.
“The main difference is that in the first show, the artists were separated, so you would have different artists next to each other,” junior Adrianne Johnson said.
This decision was a major point of discussion for the class.
“We all kind of huddled together and decided whether or not we were going to have our pieces together or separately,” junior Sydney Schneiders said. “And we just kind of all collaborated together really well to figure out how to put the space together.”
Overall, both shows have served as a great lesson for everyone involved. Johnson especially felt like she got a look into her future career.
“It’s fun to feel like a professional artist,” Johnson said. “Seeing your work, and especially (in) a group of artists, you get to see how you compare to others and how they’re also professionals and it’s like a collaborative feel.”
Meanwhile, senior Ale Arellano, who participated alongside Johnson in ‘Kaleidoscope,’ learned more about the business of the art world.
“I learned how setting up a painting or a sculpture or any other 3D to 2D material works in galleries,” Arellano said. “I understood the process of how galleries take their 40% cut of certain art pieces and I learned how clients go to artists to buy their art pieces.”
For adjunct professor Brookelle Robertson, the ShiftSpace exhibitions gave her a chance to get into the heads of her students.
“Every class I teach is different,” Robertson said. “I learn a lot from each of my students and am forced to – forced in a good way – learn and adapt to how differently each of my students think.”
However, perhaps the biggest lesson of all was the importance of teamwork.
“We had to use a lot of teamwork, and for most of us, it’s been a very novel experience — (a) very new thing that we’re kind of getting into,” senior Brandon Cross said. “So yeah, we learned a lot.”
