The Salon des Refusés exhibition opened to the public Monday in the River Campus Art Gallery at Southeast Missouri State University.
The Salon des Refusés is not an average art exhibit. It is an annual exhibition that corresponds to the Annual Juried Student Exhibition. Pieces that were not selected by the chosen juror to be displayed in the juried show can be displayed in the Salon des Refusés.
Southeast instructor of art and exhibitions coordinator Emily Booth said Salon des Refusés is a Parisian tradition that dates back to the 1800s.
"Salon des Refusés really means exhibition of the rejected," Booth said. "It's a real kind of rebellious sort of F-you to the establishment. When the tradition started they would set the rejection show right next to the accepted pieces."
Jurors for the annual event are chosen by a faculty member in rotation between the different options in the art department. This provides the exhibition with a judge of a different art focus every year. This year, Booth hosted artist Becky Grass as the selected juror. Grass is a fiber artist and art instructor at Saint Louis University.
The student pieces were judged by Grass on March 19 in the John and Betty Glenn Convocation Center at the River Campus. Pieces that were selected were immediately organized into the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum at the River Campus. Students whose pieces were not selected could choose to display their work in the Salon des Refusés.
Some guidelines and factors of the exhibition may play into the judging of the pieces in a negative way.
Students are only allowed to submit pieces that were done in the classroom. Art pieces that are completed outside of the curriculum may not be submitted for judging.
There is only one judge for the exhibition, which Booth said may not work in an artist's favor.
"When there's just a single juror, it's one person's opinion," Booth said, adding that everyone is human, and as much as we try to be subject and not put our personal taste on everything, we might.
The judging is also an assessment of the department.
"The juror has to select pieces from each of the categories," Booth said. "What that means is, a particular juror might think that one particular area was really strong and would've picked a lot of pieces from that, but because they kind of have to evenly weigh the different areas, that also comes into play."
Submitting work and having it judged proves to be a good experience for art students. Faculty makes a point to focus on several things before the works are submitted, including working with a timeline and dealing with professional presentation, including framing concerns and working with wiring and hardware, Booth said.
More importantly, Booth said faculty members stress the importance of not taking rejection too personally.
"Having a thick skin, particularly if you're in visual arts, is really important," Booth said. "You're going to constantly be rejected. It sounds horrible to say it like that but the only reason you're ever getting rejection is because you're constantly trying."
Southeast senior printmaking major Liz Coffey submitted eight pieces to the juried event. Three of her pieces were accepted into the juried show. Coffey chose to have her other five pieces displayed at the Salon des Refusés.
"The ones that were accepted were actually more recent works, so I think the idea that I started with these actually developed into my next paintings, so I think they were just better evolved," Coffey said. "It's awesome because my friends who come to one show get to see more of my art instead of just seeing three that were accepted into one show."
The Salon des Refusés exhibition is on display in the River Campus Art Museum until Friday. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
