By keeping this year’s student art exhibit theme simple, Ally Lewis ’17, Senior Administrator for the Department of Creative Arts, Design and Architecture, hoped to cast a wide net of submissions. It paid off in spades.
More than 20 students are participating in Color! (Now with Orange), the largest student art exhibit to include the overall student body at Merrimack College. It is on view at the McCoy Art Gallery through Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Nov. 7, at 5:30 p.m.
“Lots of past exhibits had more cerebral concepts,” explained Lewis. “We wanted this year’s exhibit to be more universal. ‘Color!’ is a celebration. We want to highlight how color can do that for art.”
The guidelines to participate in the exhibition were straightforward – pieces must celebrate color. They can be either monochromatic or feature a full range of colors. The only rule was no solely black-and-white pieces.
Multiple artistic media are represented in the Gallery. For example, Ryan Haroutunian ’27, a Creative Writing major, created The Mother of the Cosmos using pencil, marker and colored pencil.
“This year has been all about environmental balance for me, in more ways than one,” he wrote in an artist statement on the peice. “The deep, vast ocean that is space could be seen as an ecosystem that we haven’t solved the mysteries of yet. Black Holes may be terrifying but have their place in the universe.”
Taylor Judge ’26, an Art and Art History and Music double major, made Chronic out of plaster strips, acrylic paint and yarn.
“Red isn’t only the color of blood, it symbolizes life, sustainability and vitality,” her artist’s explanation states. “Our blood is not just a life source; it can also reveal our disabilities and limitations according to others. Red is vitality and determination in our life, but also in dichotomy, chronicity and the persistence of health.”
Lewis said she was blown away by the number of submissions for this year’s exhibit.
“It shows that students, no matter what they’re studying, are looking for a creative outlet on campus,” she continued. “It’s also nice to see support coming from the faculty on campus viewing the exhibitions and celebrating our students’ work.”
