When it comes time for seniors earning Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees to graduate, the River Campus Art Gallery exhibits their work.

Art gallery coordinator Kristin Powers Nowlin said that every student that is graduating with a B.F.A. in the studio art program is required to take the B.F.A. capstone course.

"They basically propose an exhibition or a project that they are going to do for that semester, the last semester in the program," Powers Nowlin said. "The students have acquired a specialization, so we have six specializations like graphic design, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, painting and digital art, and so they do a project that's focused in their area basically. The B.F.A. show is a time for them to put that work up and to show it is like the culminating event in their capstone course."

There are four exhibits for this semester, which will display the work of 16 graduating seniors. The remaining exhibits are April 15-19 with a closing reception from 5-6 p.m. April 19, April 22-26 with a closing reception from 5-6 p.m. April 26 and April 29 - May 3 with a closing reception from 5-6 p.m. May 3.

"We have four different B.F.A. shows going one week after the other so they basically install on, they Monday through Friday and then they deinstalll on Saturday and the new show goes up on Sunday and we repeat four times," Powers Nowlin said. "We had 16 students this semester, which is probably one of our biggest groups I think, so we have essentially four students in each week going. So they kind of stake out their territory in the gallery and make that arrangement with the rest of the group that's showing with them. They wrote an artist statement that's displayed with their project. To do this project they've been working with a committee of three people. It's always a person in their specialization, a professor that's in that specialization that they work with and then they pick two other faculty members to kind of advise them through their capstone project."

Once the seniors have exhibited their art and graduate, Powers Nowlin said that many students graduating with this degree have plans for graduate programs to further their educations, or they work with design firms such as Hobby Lobby in their corporate office.

All of the exhibitions and receptions are in the River Campus Art Gallery, which is located in Seminary Building in room 106.

The River Campus Art Gallery hours are 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-7 p.m. on First Fridays. All gallery exhibitions, events and talks are free and open to the public. For more information, contact gallery coordinator Kristin Powers Nowlin at kpnowlin@semo.edu.