Two St. Edward’s University faculty members were chosen as emerging visual artists by the Austin Museum of Art.

On Sept. 29, the Austin Museum of Art announced the artists that will be featured in its triennial exhibit “New Art in Austin: 15 to Watch.” Two of the artists chosen were Anna Krachey and Adam Schrieber, both St. Edward’s faculty members in the photocommunications department.

“I believe this exhibit will be a chance for good exposure,” Krachey said.

The exhibit, which began in 2002, is meant to highlight emerging artists within a 50-mile radius of the Capitol.

Andrea Mellard, one of the curators of the exhibit, said the purpose of the exhibit is to feature visual artists in a city that most often commends musicians and filmmakers.

“The exhibit is intended to give the same exposure to the visual arts in Austin that film and music receive, to highlight emerging artists working within the community in hopes of creating more opportunities for them to continue to work and live in Austin, and to take the pulse of the contemporary art scene in Austin,” Mellard said. 

In previous years, the exhibit featured 20 or 22 artists instead of 15. Mellard said that having fewer artists this year will allow the artists who are chosen to show more of their work.

There was an open call for artist submissions between May and July of this summer. This year, artists were selected out of a group of 350 applicants. From there, 35 artists were chosen for studio visits, and then the final 15 were picked.

Those picked for studio visits also had to meet with a jury, which consisted of Mellard, Toby Kamps and Kate Bonausinga. Mellard is the assistant curator to the Austin Museum of Art. Kamps is curator of modern and contemporary art for the Menil Collection in Houston. Bonausinga is the gallery director of the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso.

In order to be considered for the exhibit, artists had to submit five cohesive images along with a curriculum vitae and an artist statement. For artists, a curriculum vitae is similar to an extended resume and includes educational achievements, awards, grants received, fellowships, teaching experiences and an exhibition record.

Krachey and Schreiber have previously been featured in other exhibits. Schreiber currently is in an exhibit at Artpace in San Antonio. In the past he has been shown at the Harry Ransom Center, Lawndale Art Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Sasha Wolf Gallery and OK Mountain.

Krachey has recently been showcased at The Exhibition Agency in Chicago, Marty Walker Gallery, Humble Arts Foundation at Affirmation Arts in New York City and Fotofest at Box 13 Artspace.

Both were in an exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston called “Perspectives 168: Anna Krachey, Jessica Mallios, and Adam Schreiber.”

In an interview with Mossless magazine in September, Schreiber discussed his work with Paul Paper. He said, “In ways, I like the slow reveal of work, the possibility of an eventual constellation of pictures. And I’m interested in the limited clues that accompany them: dates, titles, contexts—they form an informational subtext … like a shadow, imperfect, on the brink of irrelevance. Ultimately, it seems less a question of what I want than what the work becomes.”

Mike Osborne, another St. Edward’s photography professor, was featured in the 2005 exhibit.

Osborne discussed the importance of being part of the exhibit in an Austin Chronicle article.

“The AMOA show was an opportunity, a mandate, to see some work through to completion. The exposure to audiences in Austin, as well as in Galveston and Dallas, was another significant benefit,” Osborne said.

Senior Michael Scot, one of Krachey’s students, emphasized the importance of St. Edward’s hiring working professors.

“Having a working artist as a professor is an invaluable resource to students in the photocommunications program wishing to pursue careers as artists,” Scot said. “Artists like Anna Krachey and Adam Schreiber have a relevant understanding of the art world and are able to provide students with key insight into the career path of an artist.”

The exhibit will be on display next year from Feb. 26 through May 22.