The Annual Juried Student Exhibition and Salon des Refusés can be seen at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus starting Friday.

The juried exhibition gives students a chance to submit their creative works to a juror, who then picks the ones that fit his vision for a show. The students who don't make the cut in the exhibition can apply for the Salon des Refusés, where they can still have the chance to display their work.

"It's not just limited to one particular art style either. It's a wide variety of art mediums the students can submit," Chris Wubbena, a Southeast sculpture professor, said.

Each year, a new juror is picked to judge the exhibition. This year, Wubbena picked Ron Fondaw, as he admired his versatility in art. Wubbena said he has taken students to see Fondaw's work and visit his classes at Washington University in St. Louis.

Fondaw is a professor and area coordinator of sculpture at Washington University. His exhibition, "Shaky Ground," recently was on display in the River Campus Art Gallery.

The Salon des Refusés, which translates to the "Salon of the Rufused," is a tradition that has been around since it began in 1863 in Paris. Southeast has been hosting them for the past five or six years. The main purpose of the Salon is to showcase works that were rejected by the juror.

And just because a student's piece wasn't picked doesn't necessarily mean the piece was bad.

"It's just not the vision that the juror had in mind for a show," Wubbena said.

Justin Miller, a Southeast art professor and the gallery coordinator, said he thinks students can benefit from the Salon just as well as the juried exhibition.

"It's a good opportunity for students to get their art out there, make a sale and put a line on their resume," Miller said. "It's beneficial for students to take advantage of and a good learning process."

Ally Hebert, a Southeast art major, submitted five pieces of her work in the juried exhibition for the first time, but only one was chosen.

"It's subject to the juror's opinion, but the piece I did want to get through was picked," Hebert said.

Hebert said the whole experience was nerve-racking but exciting.

"I plan on submitting more work again next year," Hebert said.

Both the exhibition and Salon will be free of charge and open to the public. The juried exhibition will be located at the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum, while the Salon will be at the River Campus Art Gallery in the Seminary Building, room 106.

The opening for the juried exhibition will be from 4-8 p.m. Friday and will include an award ceremony. The juried exhibition will run Friday to April 24 and the Salon will run Friday to April 14.

For more information, call (573) 651-2260.