Elizabeth Pulanco/Winonan

Watkins Art Gallery, named after famous Winona entrepreneur Paul Watkins, is the first thing one sees upon walking into Watkins Hall.

The white walls of the gallery do not distract from the art displayed. Complementing the walls is a high ceiling, which has an opening to allow spectators a bird’s eye view of the gallery.

The gallery itself is fairly small, but the space is used practically. Art gallery coordinator Roger Boulay discussed how the art gallery uses the smaller space to its advantage when displaying art exhibits.

“Our art gallery is very competitive with the galleries in other universities,” Boulay said. “Artists that present their art here have to pick and choose what art they present carefully.”

When artists want to display their art in the Watkins Gallery they submit their applications to a faculty committee from Winona State University after they put out a request for entries.

There are typically eight shows a year. The first exhibit featured work from three artists that interpreted interesting views about intake and society through paintings, projections and drawings.

“Everything is planned a year in advance,” Boulay said. “We also reserve spots for students to present their art in the gallery.”

Junior Kari Middendorf has had two art pieces shown in the gallery.

“One piece was a full installment I did for a reflection show about my time spent in China in June 2014,” Middendorf said. “The other piece was selected as a part of the annual juried show, Art Muse.”

A juried show is when judges evaluate submitted artwork and select what will be shown during the exhibit.

This year, six weeks have been set a side to showcase student exhibits. The students also help create promotional pieces for the exhibits, and are sometimes involved with installing the pieces on the walls of the gallery.

When choosing the art, Boulay looks for work done by artists with different experience, and work that showcases the variety of methods used to create art.

“We want a gallery that represents the society that it is in,” Boulay said.

For art students, having the art gallery available to them is helpful when trying to get a glimpse into their future careers.

“The gallery allows students, especially art students, to locally experience art in a professional matter,” junior Echo Henn, an art gallery intern, said.

Like Middendorf, Henn also had artwork shown in the gallery during Art Muse last year.

Watkins Gallery also invites artists to showcase their work and give lectures on their creative processes to students and faculty. Since a good portion of the traffic into the gallery has been art students, the art department has been working on gradually increasing the gallery’s presence on campus.

“We want all students to relate to the art, even if art isn’t a part of their daily lives,” Boulay said.

The art department has been able to do this through the involvement of other departments.

“We’ve been able to collaborate with English and dance classes,” Boulay said. “The dance classes danced in the gallery and used the art as inspiration for their movement.”

Finding more ways to get students involved with the gallery has been an interesting process for the art department, and ultimately has been a rewarding experience.

“It’s great working with students and having them see something that surprises them,” Boulay said. “This doesn’t happen often, but when it does happen, it is special.”

As the sole formal art gallery on university grounds, the Paul Watkins Art Gallery is a strong part of campus culture.

The next upcoming exhibit in the Watkins Gallery is the Mcknight Ceramics Exhibition. This exhibit will be open for viewing through Friday, Oct. 16.