Undergraduate Juried Show Winners
Each spring the Art Department sponsors an Undergrad Juried Art Show.
This year’s juror was Rene Palomares, an Albuquerque Public School Art teacher and a current UNM MFA student in Art Education. Mr. Palomares selected the exhibition pieces submitted by undergraduate students and chose three winners. The exhibition is on display at John Sommers Gallery from February 17 – 28, 2020. The award ceremony and reception were held on Thursday, February 20, 2020.
Jiayi Liang, the first-place winner at the Undergraduate Juried Show, was born in Changsha, Hunan, China. She is currently living in Albuquerque and studies Art at the University of New Mexico. Jiayi’s work explores issues of identity, language, and memory. Her artistic practice serves as a meditation and treatment to heal pervading life struggles.
The second-place winner at the Undergraduate Juried Show is Christina Ann Norton. Christina grew up with a learning disability and struggled in school but she always loved art. Norton believes that her disability is rather an “ability” that enables her to visualize three-dimensional images in her mind. “I am greatly honored to have my art celebrated by this award,” Christina said. “My dream is to be an Art Therapist and to teach people about the Healing and the Cathartic benefits of creating art.” Christina is currently pursuing a dual degree in Art and Psychology at the University of New Mexico.
Rosalinda Pacheco won third-place at the Undergraduate Juried Show. She pursues a BFA in Art Studio with an emphasis on Painting and Drawing at UNM. As a Nuevo Mexicana, Rosalinda explores ways to tell the stories of New Mexican culture and strives to overcome language barriers as well as geographic and economic disparities.
image: Undergraduate Juried Show first place winner Jiayi Liang (left), second-place winner Christina Ann Norton (center) and third-place winner Rosalinda Pacheco (right).
Spotlight on Art Studio & Art History Faculty: Featured Exhibitions
Art History Professor Ray Hernández-Durán was recently featured in two articles and interviewed by the Latin American and Iberian Institute. UNM News published “UNM Professors Create Exhibition, First-Ever Scholarship of Local Chicano Artists’ Work” by Anna Padilla, highlighting an exhibition curated by Hernández-Durán and Dr. Irene Vásquez. The show, now on view at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, features six talented New Mexican Chicano artists whose work has been historically underrepresented in academic scholarship.
Art Faculty: Awards, Residencies & Revisited Projects
Distinguished Professor Jim Stone is an exhibiting artist who uses photography. His photographs have been published in three monographs and exhibited internationally; they are represented in the permanent collections of over 30 major museums and public archives.
Emmi Whitehorse at 12th Site SANTA FE International
Art Alum, Emmi Whitehorse’s work is featured in the 12th Site SANTA FE International with a piece titled “Cloud Gate” (2025). Whitehorse was born in Crownpoint, New Mexico, and is a member of the Navajo Nation. She earned her BFA in painting here at UNM, and she also went on to get a master’s degree, majoring in both printmaking and minoring in Art History.