The Sweet Briar College 2004 senior art exhibition, "Anything But Mundane," will celebrate the works of SBC students on Friday, April 9 at 5 p.m. in Pannell Art Gallery.

Eight seniors will present works ranging from charcoal drawings to photography and sculpture, including Shandy Hamner (painting, graphite, pastel drawings) Becky Lambert (photography), Brienna McLaughlin (graphite and pastel drawings), Jessica Porter (photography), Meredith Rucker (mixed drawings, digital images), Andrea Staton (charcoal drawings), Dana Spivey (sculpture, printmaking, and drawing), and Amanda Switzenberg (mixed media sculpture, photography, and painting).

Rebecca Massie Lane, director of SBC galleries, calls the exhibition a "culminating experience" similar to an honors thesis or dissertation.

"It's a really strong exhibit this year," she said. "They all are committed to their work and serious about what they're doing.

"They've been pushing each other as well as themselves. Working with the four studio art faculty to prepare exhibition-ready work is an intense mentoring experience for the seniors."

The seniors chose the title "Anything But Mundane" to reflect the range of their works. "It is meant to be suggestive of what the audience may expect," Lane said.

Shandy Hamner, an Ashland, Va., native, is looking forward to showing the results of four years of work. "It's a really good experience for us," she said. "I think being at Sweet Briar gives seniors more opportunities to show their work. I've heard that at larger schools there's not as much time to display it. Here, you work really close with faculty."

After graduation, Hamner plans to spend the summer traveling to Austria and Australia before possibly pursuing a master of fine arts degree. But right now, she's not thinking quite that far ahead.

"It's been a very long process," she said of her undergraduate work. "When Friday comes it'll be a good day."

"Anything But Mundane" will be on view in Pannell Art Gallery until after the 2004 Sweet Briar commencement exercises beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 2.