William Carey University graduate student Bethanie Wilson won first prize in the painting category during the 2020 Mississippi Collegiate Art Competition.
The annual exhibit of work from all over the state is on display through March 13 at Mississippi University for Women. A Hattiesburg resident, Wilson received her prize Feb. 22 during a reception at MUW Galleries.
“There were 188 works selected for the exhibition from across the state. It is a huge honor for William Carey University to have a student recognized as the best in the painting category,” said Dr. Read Diket, chair of the art department.
“In the last seven years, three William Carey art students have won the painting prize, Kellie Gutterman, Hannah Wegner, and now Bethanie Wilson.”
Wilson’s winning painting is titled, “Hello Me, too.”
“I called it that because I’m saying hello to me, hello to a new body of work. I’ve always done paintings with soft edges, heavy with mood. With this painting, I did more with less. It has more definite contours, it’s visually energetic, and uses a lot of blue, which is a welcoming color,” Wilson said.
Other WCU students exhibiting work in this year’s Mississippi Collegiate Art Competition are: Alana Jolly of Clinton, sculpture; Bailey Adkins of Biloxi, drawing and painting; Ciara Fountain of Perkinston, drawing and graphics; Jessie Parker of Lucedale, painting, John-Paul Pierce of Hattiesburg, painting; and Trinity Stewart of Ellisville, ceramics.
