Wandering around the Cross/Talk student art exhibition, sophomore Spanish major Betty Gerecht said she had no expectations for her first visit to a Cross/Talk exhibition. She said she was drawn to an oil painting of a headless woman in a dress. The harsh brush strokes provided texture, and the pastel colors caught her eye.

The painting Gerecht saw is titled “Speechless” by Casee Safford, a junior psychology major and painting minor.

“Speechless” and more than 100 other works are available for viewing until Friday at the 19th annual Cross/Talk exhibition held in the Moudy Art Gallery. The exhibition is an all-student art competition separated into graphic and studio art. The winners for each category were announced Feb. 15.

The “Palindrome” poster series by Katelyn English won for graphic design; “The Property of a Lady and a Gentleman” by Nate Glaspie and “Parts of You, Parts of Me” by Harmony Padgett won for studio.

Prizes included a check for $100 for graphic design and $100 gift certificates to Asel Art Supply for both studio winners.

For her second appearance in Cross/Talk, English, a senior graphic design major, said she is excited for the win and proud of her work because it took a lot of time to create the concept and come up with the palindromes. The “Palindrome” series is an advertisement for an English lecture on palindromes, which are words or phrases that are spelled the same way backward and forward.

Polly Niccoli, a senior graphic design major, said that while choosing a favorite piece was difficult because several pieces were created by her classmates, she loved the Palindrome poster series.

Lewis Glaser, a professor and coordinator of graphic design, said this is a strong show with many more entries than in previous years.

Glaspie, a graduate student, entered his screen print on an image from an auction catalogue for his first showing in Cross/Talk. He said he was grateful for the win.

Padgett, a graduate student, appeared for the second time in Cross/Talk with a painting based off of live figure drawings.

“(The painting) was done in multiple sittings in front of multiple different models,” Padgett said.

Winning the competition with a very generous prize was wonderful, Padgett said.

Christina Rees, curator of The Art Galleries at TCU, said she was pleased with students’ artwork.

“There are some pieces in the show that are just very, very strong…I think Nate Glaspie’s piece is great…Harmony’s painting is great,” Rees said. “As far as graphic design goes, I really like the Palindrome series.”

Cross/Talk Student Art Exhibition: 2010 Winners

Graphic Design: The “Palindrome” poster series by Katelyn English

Studio Art: “The Property of a Lady and a Gentleman” by Nate Glaspie and “Parts of You, Parts of Me” by Harmony Padgett