The Washburn Alumni Exhibition had its opening reception this last Friday evening. With this school year being Washburn’s 150th anniversary and the 90th anniversary for the Mulvane, the Exhibition was filled with work from prominent, active Washburn alumni from the 1950s to 2010s. “The oldest graduate to participate in the show graduated in 1955,” said Glenda Taylor, the art chair. She was referring to Tom Parker with an abstract expressionism painting finished in 1955.

Taylor introduced the event and had all the participating alumni present raise their hands. As art department secretary Becky Shaffer said later, “I’ve seen some of the artists that I know from around town from various exhibits. There’s a lot that you see at various galleries around town … but I didn’t know they were trained at Washburn.”

A wide variety of mediums and themes were represented, including portraiture, abstract attributes, and nature-influenced imagery. Mulvane preparator and 2011 graduate Michael Allen spoke about how much fun it was to arrange and install.

“Literally there are graduates from every decade,” he said, referring to the art and attendees.

“I’m delighted with the diversity and the quality, and I’m just beginning to look,” said alumni Carol Yoho during the event. Also present was a luxurious food spread catered by Chartwells. The gallery space quickly became standing room only, with a noise level to match, especially since the gallery was designed for quiet art study and lacked acoustic diffusion materials.