Student artists share their craft at annual market

On Nov. 16 and 17, the ballroom of the SUB was converted into a pop up market for local artists to share and sell their work in the Exit Gallery’s annual Art Market. There were a total of 25 artists featured in the market that displayed an assortment of different products. This was the first year this event has taken place since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nolan Miller, a business major, was one of the featured artists and owns NM Works. The artwork he displayed at the market was a variety of animal skulls that had been hydro dipped into paint, creating random flowing designs. The skulls included bison, cows, bulls, and mule deer. “Ever since I was young, I have had a crazy imagination and a love for working with my hands,” Miller said. “Over time, I have found various outlets to express my creativity through photography, drawing, woodworking, and painting.”

For Gen DeLorme, a full time student studying Conservation Biology and Ecology, artwork is an avenue for protecting beautiful landscapes that she is able to experience and paint. “Growing up I took part in most arts and crafts but discovered acrylic painting later on in highschool. It became my way of experiencing the adventures I would go on in a deeper way,” DeLorme said. “It helped me to look at landscapes with a different scope and take note of all the beautiful details that go often unnoticed.” At her stand she sold an assortment of items from stickers and ornaments to paintings and prints.

Two more artists sharing their work were Ella Kuzyk and Lura Johnson. Kuzyk was recently featured on the cover of Bozeman Magazine and has created work for The Connective Flyfish Co. Johnson is studying environmental engineering at MSU. In a description of her work, she wrote that it  “toes the line between make-believe and the real world. This line is expressed in my life as the nonsensical fun that is experienced when an alpine staff leaves you cold, hungry, and tired, but leads into a beautiful sunrise, a feathering ski run, or lying on a warm rock by the river. Incorporating the fierceness and thrill in nature into a visual expression leads to creating vibrant colors and funky shapes into the mountains, rivers, and rocks that lead to these experiences.”

Jaden Attard displayed a variety of cards, stickers, and prints for products. He primarily uses mediums such as graphite, watercolor, pen and ink. “If there is one thing I want to do with my art, it is to show people that they matter,” Attard said. “Not just that they sort of mean something in the greater picture; but that they really, genuinely matter in this world. Everybody deserves to understand how uniquely indispensable they are in this universe, and how its Creator made them with a powerful and undeserved purpose.”  Attard is currently a student at MSU working on a Masters in Architecture and a BFA.

At another stand you could find Amanda Williams’s hand embroidered t-shirts and knitted hats. She said she’s “self taught and loves sharing my craft with others.”

The Art Market drew together students from across a variety of academic disciplines, showcasing that anyone can create and share art.

Find the Instagram account for each of the mentioned artists here:

Noah Miller: @nmworks21

Gen DeLorme: @gendelorme_art

Ella Kuzyk: @january.dreaming

Lura Johnson: @lurartis

Jaden Attard: @jaden_attard_art

Amanda Williams: @craftbich123