Two Thomas More College senior art students, Taylor Stephenson and Trey Hoover, were selected in a national competition to exhibit their art work in the 2007 Rites of Passage Exhibit at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rites of Passage is an annual competitive exhibit in which regional and national art students are invited to submit proposals for exhibit.

“It’s quite a coup for Taylor and Trey, as well as for our Art Department, to have earned such significant representation in a national juried show,” said Barb Rauf, Professor of Art at Thomas More.

For this year’s competition, a jury committee and the curator at Manifest Gallery screened 276 works from senior undergraduates in twelve national college programs from across the country. They selected twenty-two works by seven artists to present professional quality exhibits at Manifest Gallery. Thomas More College, Baylor University, University of Cincinnati and University of Buffalo will comprise the 2007 Rites of Passage exhibit.

“For Thomas More students to have 5 out of a total of 22 accepted works in such a competitive venue is impressive, especially considering the other schools competing were primarily larger universities and more well-known art schools,” said Rauf. “I think it demonstrates the fact that bigger isn’t always better. We consider the comparatively small size of Thomas More’s art program to be a significant advantage. Our students get a great deal of one-on-one instruction and upper level art majors are given individual studio spaces. Our goal is to graduate students who are mature, independent and self-directed artists. Trey and Taylor have certainly met this expectation.”

Rites of Passage was established in the spring of 2005, as a way of supporting student excellence by offering a public venue for the display of advanced ‘creative research’; to promote young artists as they transition into their professional careers; and to bring the positive creative energies of regional institutions together in one place.

The Rites of Passage exhibit at the Manifest Gallery will kick off with an opening reception on Friday, April 27 at 6:00 p.m. The exhibit will run from April 27 through May 25, 2007. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 5:00 p.m. Manifest Gallery is located at 2727 Woodburn Avenue in East Walnut Hills. For more information, please call 513-861-3638.