FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Student Gallery, sUgAR Projects: Student Pop-Up Gallery, will close a month of multi-student exhibitions Friday, April 26, with a reception from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.  The closing reception will feature BYO at East Square Plaza (1 E. Center Street, formerly known as the Underground) on the downtown Fayetteville square.

“This is the largest exhibition event that the department has ever held at one time,” said Jeannie Hulen, chair of the department of art in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. “This space gave us the opportunity to program an event that is part of the overall curriculum.”

BYO, a one-day-only group exhibition featuring works by first- and second-year graduate students, advanced sculpture students and advanced painting and drawing students, is the last of the group exhibits that sUgAR organized throughout the month. Artists featured in BYO include Cambry Pierce-Duperier-Newton, Todd Pentico, Justin Tobin, Eric Jackson, Jeanne Vockroth, Ven Yates, Samantha Hussey and Sarah Colpitts.

With a space of 1,900 square feet, the Fine Arts Center Gallery’s capacity can accommodate only one student exhibition at a time. The university-owned East Square Plaza has allowed the department to have more contiguous space for the exhibitions without additional cost to the department or its students.

“In previous semesters we have had to rent, borrow and reuse current classroom space when available, said Hulen. “Not all areas could be included, but this new space allowed us to show the work of more than one student at a time, giving the students a more complete laboratory experience”

The students and faculty have enjoyed being so integrated with downtown Fayetteville and the public.

“I hope that people from across campus and the community will join us for this event,” said Hulen. “Pictures are wonderful, but only by seeing the students’ work in person and setting foot in this phenomenal space can people truly understand how important it has been to us.”

The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public.