The 57th annual student art exhibition was held in the Ameen Art Gallery March 8 through 12, and the winners were announced Thursday during a reception.Entrants and attendees alike seemed pleased with the overall quality of the exhibition.

“The quality of the entries was amazing,” Tim Samaha, art junior from Houma, said. “I think the fact that this is from Nicholls students in Thibodaux, La., says a lot about our university, and I’m proud of it. You don’t have to be at a big school to succeed.”

The event, held every spring semester for a full week, boasted more than 300 entries. The exhibited items were on display from media such as ceramics, painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, papermaking, sculpture, design, digital art and graphic design.

Students submitted work that was created in art classes and chosen by instructors, as many as six pieces in three of the 18 categories. A graphic art judge and judges for every other medium were brought in to judge the show.

A first place winner was chosen in each medium category; judges then decided if there would be any merit winners in the categories. The “Student’s Choice Award” was given to the entry students felt was the best piece in the exhibition. The “Best of Show” was awarded to Mandy Buisson for her piece “Dream.”

Students were awarded with gift certificates ranging from $50 to $100. The first place winners were:

* Jeanine Van Der Loo, art senior from Thibodaux, in throwing ceramics

* Beau Raymond, art senior from Cut Off, in hand built ceramics, art history, and website design

* Eddie Richard, art senior from Houma, in sculpture

* Andrea Dupree, art senior from Houma, in papermaking

* Cheri White, art senior from Thibodaux, in drawing

* Tiffany Rousseau, art senior from Houma, in photography

* Alicia Vinning, former art student from Patterson, in printmaking

* Jane Durocher, freshman from Thibodaux, in design

* Lindsay Boudreaux, marketing senior from Metairie, in Book Covers

* Gavin Stevens, art junior from Schriever, in package design

* Brandon Bailey, art senior from Morgan City, in CD design and magazine design

* Chad Labat, art senior from Houma, in stamp and poster

* Christy Papa, art senior from Thibodaux, in symbols

* Katie Calhoun, art sophomore from Houma, in recipe design

* Noelle Whitney, art senior from Houma, in typography

* Ron Robinson, art senior from Gray, in AIGA

The Best of Show in graphic design went to Brandon Bailey for his “White 2 CD.”

Before the reception, Kappa Pi, the art honor fraternity, inducted student members Raymond; Andrea Robbins, art senior from Hahnville; and Ferrin Folkert, art junior from Grand Isle. New faculty inductees were art instructors Michael Wyshock and Jeff Brown.