The 2007 Best in Show Winner "Floss I" by Emily Mitchell

UNC Asheville's Art Department will host the 41st annual Juried Student Art Exhibition April 18-30 in UNC Asheville's S. Tucker Cooke Gallery, located on the ground floor of Owen Hall. An opening reception will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, April 18 in the gallery. The award and scholarship ceremony will take place at 7 p.m.

Noted North Carolina artist Tom Spleth will serve as juror of the exhibition and give a talk at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in the gallery. The show is free and open to the public.

Primarily a ceramist, Spleth has made some 20,000 functional pieces. He has produced figurative and abstract sculpture, furniture, tiles and light boxes as well as paintings, prints and drawings. Spleth holds a master of fine arts degree from Alfred University in New York. He has taught foundation drawing and ceramics at Alfred University. He has also served as an artist-in-residence at the Art/Industry Program of the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, Wisc. Spleth served as director of the City Gallery in Raleigh and of the exhibition gallery of the Wilson Arts Council. His work is on view in the permanent collections of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, the Louise Wells Cameron Museum and the Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design. He currently lives and works in Little Switzerland, N.C.

The gallery is open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays. Admission is free. For more information, call UNC Asheville's Art Department at 828/251-6559.