Graduating BFA students from USF present Nonrefundable gallery show at The Lockbox

Four years of studying, four months of digital planning and two weeks of physically building the gallery from the ground up come to fruition this Friday at 6 p.m.

Nonrefundable, the University of South Florida’s graduating Bachelors of Fine Arts thesis exhibit, launches downtown at The Lockbox and is free to attend.

“This is a culmination of all of our undergraduate degree,” said Estefania Velez, a graduating painter in the exhibit. “This work is from this semester, but it encompasses all the knowledge we’ve learned through USF and the art program.”

All 20 graduating BFA students will be in the show, representing almost every facet of the fine arts department —sculpting, painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and cinematography —  missing only performance, said Jake Northrup, a graduating painter and illustrator.

Most of the seniors have watched their peers’ art develop over the years, and they’re excited to finally be able to reveal their creations as well as the hand-crafted gallery, which is a work of art itself.

“We built 10 one-sided walls and three two-sided walls from scratch,” said graduating printer Clayton Petras.

“We painted the whole entire gallery. It was mustard yellow.” Velez added. “We primed everything, taped everything, screwed everything together, put up our own lighting and the rafters for the lighting — every single thing that you see here was made by us.”

The BFA students wanted to craft an intimate, cohesive experience even though there’s a diverse array of works in the show.

As if you needed any more incentive to go, a reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday will launch the five-day exhibit. There’ll be free food from Bamboozle Café, free craft and domestic beer, free wine as well as a full bar.

Local DJ Brian Taylor will be supplying the tunes. For $1, donors will receive a Nonrefundable button while supplies last.  Check out the sneak peek below of some of the artists' work as they set up!

Be on the lookout for these artists:

Estefania Velez:
Estefania is a painter who experiments with fluorescent oil paints and ink. Her work deals much with loss, eternity and the physics of time travel. 

Jake Northrup: 
Jake's colorful acrylic paintings staunchly contrast his charcoal drawings. The charcoal acts as static-like frequency which interacts with the paintings as well as the viewer individually.

For the full effect and to meet all of the artists, come out to The Lockbox this Friday, April 24 at 6 p.m. Bring your friends!