Located at 41 Park Row, the University’s art gallery hosted its Annual Art Student Exhibition which ran from April 10 to April 25, 2026 and featured 75 student artists. The gallery is usually open to students, staff and faculty across the University campuses, as well as the outside community in the city.
One eye-catching artwork was Kaitlin Espinal’s “La Casa de Tia Lelia” painting. The image was of the side of a house in what appeared to be the countryside. The piece evoked a feeling of nostalgia and tranquility.
“The inspiration for this painting was my great aunt’s house back in the Dominican Republic (D.R.). She had recently passed away in January, and a few of my family members and I took an emergency trip not only to say goodbye to her, but to be a support for the rest of the family.” Espinal explained.
It was her third time visiting the D.R., and her urge to paint was very strong during her time there. The painting is based on a photo she took of the house during sunrise, and she mentioned how her Painting III class gave her the opportunity to express her inspiration from the trip.
Espinal stated “[The University] has supported my endeavors as an artist not only through the ability to show my painting in a gallery, but also through the variety of art classes I’m able to take.” She also explained how the classes she’s taken have allowed her to expand her abilities and learn more about art.
Espinal even shows gratitude towards the support she’s gotten from her classmates and professors. “My biggest inspiration has been Linda Gottesfeld, who pushes me to try different things and who was one of my biggest supporters in submitting my painting.”
Another compelling piece was created by Jet Coyan, a Junior majoring in Communications and Media Studies. Their work, “Trauma Imposter,” uses digital photography and color grading to evoke feelings of uncertainty and danger.
“I worked on the piece for six hours straight in one day after feeling disconnected from my own mind and past experiences. I wanted to make sure I finished it while in this episode, to properly convey my feelings and translate them into my art,” Coyan states.
They go on to describe their process and priorities when working. “I wanted the piece to stimulate my feelings of depersonalization and anxiety associated with my lack of security in knowing my own thoughts and memories are real.”
Coyan used digital photography to capture themself in this state, using images of eyes surrounding the piece as a way to show how they always have someone trying to combat what happened. They explained their usage of the color red to symbolize feelings of unsafeness, anxiety, and “destruction of my reality.” They scattered the elements of the piece to show how their thoughts and words of others come from every direction and make them unable to think correctly. “I created parts to stimulate a glitch, extending from the chaos in my mind and missing pieces of my memory,” Coyan added.
Deilene Rodriguez, a junior majoring in Information Technology, also explained colors and her vision for her art titled “Vino.”
“When creating this piece, I envisioned a sophisticated event with a rich, wine-inspired atmosphere influenced by gatherings and celebrations I’ve experienced… The color red came to mind as the color represents passion and energy, and the deep red colors I chose for the final piece helped set the elegant mood that I was seeking to express,” she said.
She expressed how she wanted the elements to feel cohesive whilst simultaneously allowing each figure to be distinct, representing the diversity within her community. Much like Espinal, Rodriguez also takes inspiration and pride from her Latina identity.
“Much of my inspiration comes from my Hispanic background, which is deeply important to me, and I wanted that to be reflected in my work.” This even came through in her title. Rodriguez explains “Choosing the title came naturally to me. I knew I wanted it in Spanish and connected to the wine theme. So the word “Vino” stood out to me.”
