Courtesy Photo / leighla Beteta
Beteta’s art exhibit will open Nov. 8 in the Art Building.
Morgan Jackson
Arts Editor
Senior Leighla Beteta is presenting her senior art exhibit entitled “Journeys.”
The art exhibit will be displayed at the Oklahoma Baptist University Art department gallery from Nov. 8-22.
There will be an opening night reception on Nov. 8 from 6-8 p.m. with food, drinks and fun.
The work that will be displayed comes from two illustration projects, rather than a culmination of work from her time at Oklahoma Baptist University.
“Senior art shows are required for students enrolled in an art or graphics design major. Essentially, it’s a required part of our degree in order to graduate, and to give us practice should we decide to exhibit work publicly,” senior art major Leighla Beteta said.
Beteta’s exhibit takes the form of illustrations inspired by different sources.
“Originally, I planned to do a general showing and just show some work throughout my time here at OBU, however I picked up two illustration jobs and thought that would be a great topic to cover,” Beteta said.
“One is a story my little brother wrote and the other is from a lady in New York.”
The title of the show gives insight into the nature of the work displayed at the exhibit.
“I’m also including bits and pieces of my other work from my time here at OBU. Hence the title ‘Journeys’. Both the books involve a journey of some sort whether it involves surviving a snowstorm or trying to find a doctor to save a mother’s son,” Beteta said.
“With the other pieces of art I add, it includes my artistic journey and marks my growth in art and life.”
Beteta acknowledges that the pro- cess of planning the details and logistics of the show have been stressful, but that the experience is a good one that is growing her as an artist and a person.
The experiences she has had at OBU have given her new outlooks and perspectives.
“Learning about other people and their beliefs and experiences. Having a relationship for the past two years has played a big role too,” Beteta said.
“I’ve learned how to socialize better, gain better public speaking skills, I’ve become more open and have come to understand that life really isn’t just a plain and simple black and white thing that is clearly visible. Things are complicated, people are complicated, bit it’s not bad.”
Beteta is always seeking growth in the things she does and how she does them.
This includes experimenting with different mediums and methods and knowing that constraint is an obstacle to creating.
“You will see a variety of mediums and pieces, maybe it seems to lack a style, and that’s okay. In graduate school you usually pick an emphasis like painting, drawing, etc,” Beteta said.
“I don’t believe in forcing a com- position to a medium. I create what I feel needs to be created in the medium it needs to be in.”
Beteta sees different mediums as a means of expression, and she high- lights the importance of getting out of your comfort zone.
“If that means I’m going to learn how to use a new medium, I will if it’s what is needed to make the piece what it needs to be,” Beteta said.
“If you’re artistic or want to be, don’t constrain yourself and say you ‘have to do this first’ we need to go out our comfort zone to grow for sure, but don’t let people tell you that you need to pick something and stick with it. You will do that naturally when you find your medium(s).”
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