Way back five years ago, in 2006, Wesleyan students Alaina Gibbs ’09 and Julian Hampton-Crow ’09 created Be The Art, an annual art exhibition committed to raising awareness of the artistic student of color community and drawing attention to the underrepresentation of minority artists at large. Just a few years later that commitment is still going strong as the show celebrates its fifth anniversary, a celebration that began with an opening reception Feb. 17, in the Zilkha Gallery.

“The show was founded to promote diversity in the art market which is mostly dominated by white men,” said co-chair of the Be The Art Committee Alyssa Lanz ’12. “It’s about creating a dialogue about what it means to be an artist of color and to celebrate and encourage students of color to pursue their passions whether its arts related or not. And although we lost our advisor who is the former curator for the gallery, Nina Felshin, this year’s show is the best we have had yet.”

The exhibit is supported by a group of student art advocates spanning different communities at Wesleyan. The committee, comprised of Lanz, DonChristian Jones ’12, Odetty Tineo ’12, Shinekwa Kershaw ’13, and Kamar Thomas ’12, works in collaboration with the Zilkha Gallery to provide a space for students of color to display their art and celebrate their accomplishments with the Wesleyan community. Students voluntarily submit their artwork to be included in the show by the end of the fall semester. This year Wes students can look forward to celebrating a wide range of art mediums at the show, including painting, photography, printmaking, poetry, and drawing by artists Mel Arroyo ’13, Kevin Brisco ’13, Llama Chow ’12, Vivian Ho ’13, Kuan-lin Huang ’12, DonChristian Jones ’12, Chantaneice Kitt ’13, Thomas Lee ’13, Timmy Lee ’12, Sydney Lowe ’13, Akua Murray-Adoboe ’13, Micharri Pratts ’13, Lisa Sy ’13, and Kamar Thomas ’12.

“All of the pieces featured were done independently and have a different story to share,” Lanz said. “We do not have a specific theme to the show, but rather we encourage artists to be the art they want to see in world and to create their own voice.”

In addition to the exhibit, Be The Art has since expanded their program to include other events. This year the committee organized a film screening of the documentary “Jean Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child” at Eclectic and are bringing in two speakers from the National Organization of Minority Architects, -Andrew Vega and -Andrew Thompson, to speak on Feb. 24 at the Zilkha Gallery.

While the committee’s mission has seen many changes since the group’s inception, Lanz was adamant that this year’s exhibition is a return to the original purpose—encouraging students of color to be the art they want to see in the world.

“It’s about celebrating the art community at Wesleyan and sharing what the artists of color on campus have been working on over the past year,” Lanz said. “It’s important for all students to come to the show to support one of the only student-run art shows. Many of these students are undergraduate art studio majors, so it’s exciting to see what they are working on before waiting to see their final projects in their senior theses shows.”

The show is co-sponsored by the Center for the Arts, Center for African American Studies, and the Office of Diversity and Institutional Partnerships and is open now through Feb. 27.