Student artists from across three decades of Dawson’s history are being highlighted in a new exhibition at the Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery, where works created between 1993 and 2026 have been brought together to showcase the talent, experimentation and achievements of Visual Arts students.

In an interview following the Oct. 8 vernissage, Amanda Beattie, Assistant Chairperson of the Fine Arts Department, reflected on the breadth of creativity represented in the exhibition and the strength of the Visual Arts program.

“We are so proud of the Visual Arts program and all of the incredibly talented students who come through Dawson’s doors,” Amanda said. “I think that the works speak for themselves: they show the skills that the students learn during the two intensive years that they spend in the program, and the creativity that they are encouraged to explore.”

The exhibition features work by current and former students working across disciplines including painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography and new media.

Among the artists represented is Kristi Ropeleski, whose portrait was created while she was a Dawson student in the 1990s. Today, she is a member of the Fine Arts faculty. Visitors can also see a striking triptych created on three panes of glass by Nicholas Mahon, now an Emmy-nominated puppet and theatrical designer based in New York City. Other featured artists are recent graduates who have continued their studies in Fine Arts at Concordia University.

The exhibition also includes selected prints by Dawson Indigenous students displayed in the vitrine facing the Upper Atrium cafeteria. The works celebrate Indigenous voices and expressions of resilience.

The show was co-curated by Fine Arts faculty members Amanda Beattie, Pohanna Pyne Feinberg, Gwen Baddeley and Emma Doubt. Drawing from works displayed around the College as well as pieces kept in storage, they selected a diverse group of artworks that would resonate together in the gallery space.

“There are more works in storage that we would’ve loved to include, but we ran out of space!” Amanda said.

The exhibition was organized during a period of transition for the gallery. Amanda explained that when Pohanna Pyne Feinberg received release time this semester to coordinate gallery operations, Gwen Baddeley suggested an exhibition focused on the College’s own collection, an idea that quickly gained support.

Many of the works on display come from the Fine Arts Department’s permanent collection, including pieces acquired through the Myles Tyrrell Purchase Award. Established in 1991 in honour of longtime sculpture and design teacher Myles Tyrrell, the award enables the department to purchase a work each year from the graduating student exhibition. Over time, the collection has grown to include more than 30 paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints.

Other works are drawn from the department’s Study Collection, which consists of exceptional student pieces preserved for teaching purposes, often through donations from former students.

Amanda said she hopes the exhibition will encourage the collection to be seen more widely across campus after the show closes.

“Our hope is that at the end of the exhibition, all of the works will find homes in the hallways and in offices and our storage space will be empty,” she said. “The works are meant to be seen, and we know how appreciated they are by everyone who walks by them every day.”

At the vernissage, Amanda thanked the artists featured in the exhibition, the Art History team, Fine Arts faculty and staff who helped install the exhibition, Kristi Ropeleski and Joe Becker for caring for and documenting the collection, gallery interns Alexandre Thomas-Verzar, Nina Ngo and Elisabeth Dubois, and the many College administrators and collaborators whose support made the exhibition possible. She also thanked Pohanna Pyne Feinberg for serving as gallery coordinator this semester, outgoing gallery coordinator Rhonda Meier for “generously sharing her precious knowledge of the gallery during the transition,” the support and collaboration offered by Creative and Applied Arts sector Dean Brid NicNiocaill, Associate Dean Selma Hamdani and administrative secretary Angelique Cunningham Allard, the Library for loaning a work by Marianne Lamoureux, and to the ACCQ for supporting the vernissage.