School of Design presents annual student juried exhibit

South Dakota State University’s School of Design will host its annual juried student exhibit awards ceremony May 1 from 1:30-3 p.m.

The public exhibition will be on display in the Ritz Gallery of Grove Hall at SDSU, located south of the University Student Union between Mathews and Brown residence halls. Admission is free.

Jurors, supported by the Van Zante endowment, have been selected and will visit campus, along with jurying the exhibit and awards. The graphic design juror is Kristi Wire, designer and founder of Wire Design Company in Sioux Falls. As a senior strategic partner, she works with scaling businesses and companies in transition.

Recognized by Fast Company, the Webby Awards and LogoLounge, Wire’s work has helped a manufacturing client exceed revenue projections by $1 million in four months, driven a 76% increase in active visitors for a professional services firm, and generated 250 donated pairs of shoes within the first week of a nonprofit site launch. Selected clients include MarketBeat, T-Mobile and Waldner Farms.

The studio art juror is Hannah Demma, a multimedia artist based in Lincoln, Nebraska, working primarily in papermaking. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (2017) and Master of Fine Arts (2022) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with an emphasis on printmaking and experimental processes.

Demma’s work combines studio practice with collaborative projects, including deep mapping initiatives that explore the relationships between place, material and community. She has taught deep mapping workshops at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, exploring the Mississippi River, and will return to teach again in 2026. She teaches papermaking at Constellation Studios and serves as artist liaison for the Lux Center for the Arts.

Recent recognition includes the 2026 State of the Arts Prize from Creative Capital, a Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship (2025) and Best in Show at the Sioux City ArtSplash Festival (2025). Demma also served as the 2025 artist-in-residence at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln.

Her practice is rooted in attentive making, material exploration and creating opportunities for shared, immersive experiences.

Along with the awards ceremony, the community is invited to a free public lecture presented by Demma on Monday, April 20, from 6-7 p.m. in the lower level of the South Dakota Art Museum.

The exhibit will be on view for the public from May 1 to Aug. 31. The Ritz Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed weekends and holidays) and by appointment during the summer. Parking is available in the University Student Union parking lot.