Jordan Beck | Daily Press Bay College sophomore Cree Stenberg looks at photos taken by Bay students which are on display in the college’s winter 2018 student art show. A reception for this show took place in the Besse Center Gallery Thursday.

ESCANABA — Bay College is sharing art made by its students with the community in Bay’s winter 2018 student art show, which is currently on display in the Besse Center Gallery. A reception for the exhibition was held in the gallery Thursday afternoon.

“(I’m) extremely excited about it,” Arts Faculty and Fine Arts Coordinator Kristine Granger said about this semester’s exhibition.

Bay classes, which have works featured in the winter 2018 student art show, include Digital Photography I and II, Ceramics, Painting I and II, Intro to Art Design, and Installation/Performance Art.

“That’s a new class offered this semester,” Granger said in regards to the last of these courses.

During Thursday’s reception, the winners of Bay’s Purchase Prize Awards for the winter 2018 semester were announced. Installation/ Performance Art’s first Purchase Prize Award-winning work was Matthew Jewell’s performance art piece “Heads.”

“I think it’s really important for more people to see performance art,” Jewell said on the addition of this class to Bay’s curriculum. Videos documenting pieces created for Installation/Performance Art are being shown on a computer in the Besse Center Gallery.

In “Heads,” Jewell ate six heads of lettuce while looking in two convex mirrors which had magazine clippings taped on them. He noted that the piece, which he performed twice in March, dealt with themes of body image and his own experience with eating disorders.

Jewell said the public response to “Heads” was strong.

“I got a lot of comments about it — very positive comments,” he said.

Taylor Paulin won the Purchase Prize Award for Painting II with her triptych “Untitled.”

“This is my second year at Bay … it’s a good note to leave on,” Paulin said of her win.

As was the case for “Heads,” Paulin’s work was directly inspired by her own experiences.

“My piece is based on my personal issues with anxiety,” she said. According to Paulin, each panel of her piece serves as an abstract representation of a panic attack.

Other Purchase Prize Awards were won by Digital Photography I student Kaylee Hubert, Digital Photography II student Anna Larson, Ceramics student Chelsea LaPalme, Painting I students Chelsea LaPalme and Laura Halfrisch, and Intro to Art Design students Jessica Vanzile and Kaitlin Kamradt.

Several people were in attendance at the reception Thursday, including Bay College students, Bay employees, and community members. Bay College Director of Admissions Jessica LaMarch said she was extremely impressed with the work shown in this exhibition.

“Our students are just so incredible,” she said, noting that many of the pieces on display portrayed their creators’ deep understanding of the world.

Joe Kaplan said he enjoyed seeing this exhibition.

“I liked it — (the) students are talented,” he said.

Granger was pleased with what Bay’s art students have created this semester.

“They pushed themselves, and they really have incredible work here,” she said.

Bay’s student art show will be displayed in the Besse Center Gallery through July.