On Thursday, Jan. 29, the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham gallery showcased student creativity from across campus as paintings, sculptures and digital media filled the space during the opening reception of the 2026 Juried Student Exhibition. Judged by professional artists from the community, the exhibition featured 42 works selected from 92 submissions, representing a wide range of majors and disciplines.
The University awarded cash prizes for Best in Show: $125 for first place, $100 for second and $75 for third, plus gift cards from Hunt’s Photo and Video, and Casco Bay Frames & Gallery.
2026 Award Winners:
In addition to honoring technical skill and creativity, the prizes give students a sense of how professional artists view their work.
“Feedback from outside jurors is immensely important to growing one’s art practice,” said Kat Zagaria Buckley, Director of Art Exhibitions and Outreach. “They experience the work as artwork, outside of its classroom context, which helps students better understand how their work is received in a professional setting.”
Beyond the Art Department: An exhibition for all students
Open to students from any major, USM’s annual juried exhibition showcases a wide range of artistic perspectives, highlighting creativity across campuses.
“The arts as a discipline leverage our understanding of other fields,” Zagaria Buckley said. “We value the interdisciplinary strength that visual art can lend to students studying any of the university’s majors, and recognize that art is being created both within and outside the Art Department.”
This year, psychology student Olivia Leary was the only non-art major to have work on display in the exhibition. Inspired by her Women and Gender Studies minor and her work as a nanny, Leary’s piece explores themes of justice, and the responsibility adults have to create a better future for children.
“I am a senior this year, graduating in May, and this will be the last academic opportunity for me to share my art before entering a Social Work and Counseling masters program,” Leary said. “It is very fulfilling, finally being able to make work that I am proud of as a senior in undergrad.”
The inclusive approach is central to the exhibition’s mission – it honors and celebrates the creativity happening across campuses, strengthens the university’s sense of creative community and encourages students to explore their own artistic potential, no matter their field of study.
Connecting students with Maine’s professional art community
A critical part of that mission is the jurying process, which connects students with Maine’s broader art community. Professional artists evaluate submissions and provide feedback that goes beyond typical classroom critique, giving students a sense of how their work is perceived in a professional context.
“Inviting outside jurors is a year-round process,” Zagaria Buckley said. “Through studio visits, gallery openings, and building relationships across Maine’s art community, we invite artists, curators, and critics whose experience allows them to evaluate a wide range of media and provide meaningful feedback to our students.”
As the gallery’s director, Zagaria Buckley is responsible for much of this outreach and is highly intentional in her consideration of jurors’ disciplines, aiming to represent a variety of artistic approaches and perspectives.
USM alumni Rosalba Breazeale and Raquel P. Miller served as this year’s judges, offering students insights drawn from their professional experience in multiple artistic disciplines. Miller, who lives and works in Biddeford, earned a bachelor’s degree in English with minors in Spanish and studio art from USM. Her work spans painting and ceramics and often draws on personal history, emotion and memory.
For Miller, the juried exhibition is less about outcomes and more about how students might grow from the experience.
“I hope that students can approach the show with a sense of pride,” Miller said. “I think student shows like this are a reflection of all the student artists that are here, regardless of whether a piece got into the show or not.”
Miller herself didn’t get into the juried exhibition when she was a student at USM.
“I wasn’t even an art major, but I continued on and eventually found my own voice and a place for my art within Maine’s art community,” she said. “From that, I hope students can be reminded there is no one way to be an artist.”
To view the jurors’ work, visit Rosalba Breazeale’s website and Raquel P. Miller’s website.
From classroom critique to professional feedback
Accustomed to receiving feedback from peers and professors, students rarely face critique from strangers viewing their work. The juried exhibition gives students the chance to learn from professional artists who see the work “cold,” bringing perspectives shaped by careers in the art world rather than academia.
For fourth-year Art Education student Whitney Davenport, submitting to the exhibition for the first time meant overcoming self-doubt.
“I was back and forth about submitting works from a specific body of work I had completed recently because they are very personal works – and they’re literally all self portraits,” Davenport said. “I was honestly surprised that I had two works accepted. It has given me a little bit more confidence in myself and my work.”
Davenport’s painting Listening received a Casco Bay Frames Honorable Mention.
Through this process, students gain practical skills for professional art careers. Simply preparing work for submission teaches valuable lessons – how to measure pieces accurately, communicate display requirements and present work to professional standards. Each medium has its own presentation considerations, from framing and matting choices to technical equipment needs.
“Participating in the show taught me how important it is to plan ahead for how my work will be installed and viewed,” said Crystal Reynolds, whose sculptural ceramic works Desolation, Ruin and Cluster were selected for this year’s exhibition. “As a 3D artist, installing work can get very complicated, especially as your work gets larger.”
Reynolds won the Provost’s Purchase Award in 2025, an honor that gave her confidence to push her practice further.
“It made me realize that my work could sell and that people saw value in it,” she said. “That gave me a great sense of pride in myself and my art.”
Student artists find validation and community through exhibition
For many students, participation in the exhibition alone serves as a milestone in their development as artists; for some, a win can be a turning point in their creative confidence.
Alyssa Letendre won First Place Best in Show in 2025 and returned this year to take second place for her ceramic sculpture Bare. She described the 2025 recognition as a breakthrough.
“I’ve always struggled with creative blocks and feeling unsure about expressing myself, so receiving that recognition was kind of like a breakthrough,” Letendre said. “It showed me that the risks I was taking in my work were worth it and I’ve felt much more confident about my work overall.”
Since her first juried show, Letendre has had her work featured in galleries throughout Southern Maine. “Participating in the last two juried shows has taught me a lot about the professional expectations of the art world, basically everything from submitting and presenting work to pricing pieces and networking,” she said.
For Davenport, the exhibition goes beyond professional development – it is about connection and being part of a creative community. “More importantly, I’m grateful to be part of a larger community celebration in the art department,” she said. “I’ve been here for four years and never taken advantage of this opportunity, so this experience feels especially bittersweet.”
Miller frames the exhibition – regardless of outcome – as a moment for students to reflect, grow, and continue shaping their artistic identity.
“If their piece made it in, celebrate that accomplishment and reflect on what is working, and what feels right to their practice,” she said. “If their work didn’t get in: it is okay, and it does not mean they are not talented, passionate, or deserving. In the same way, take a moment to reflect, and keep working to articulate your vision.”
Visit the 2026 Juried Student Exhibition
The 2026 Juried Student Exhibition remains on display through March 24 at the USM Art Gallery in Gorham. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Plan your visit by viewing the USM Art Gallery’s hours and visitor information.
Many works are available for purchase at reasonable prices, with all proceeds going entirely to the student artist.
