College of Fine Arts and Communication: Highlights students’ work
The Pointer
jspra793@uwsp.edu
The College of Fine Arts and Communication has finished another busy and successful year.
Art and design students recently showed off their creativity from the last four years on Friday, May 8, in the Edna Carlsten Gallery and courtyard of the Noel Fine Arts Center during the Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition.
Mimi Johnson, academic department associate to the department of art and design, explained that the work shown by students was a culmination of their individual work.
It was their final opportunity to display what they had learned as undergraduates before moving on to unknown territory as they completed their last semester at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
“It’s their capstone experience, their thesis exhibition,” said Gallery Director Caren Heft.
The exhibition displayed the work of 28 graphic design students and 15 studio majors, representing two-dimensional and three-dimensional work through a studio display gallery or professional portfolios.
The students, who have worked closely as a group with colleagues and faculty advisors, experimented, critiqued and researched in order to create the display of their final products.
Art and design major, Leah Kwarciany, displayed two-dimensional pieces of dogs, which are metaphors for women in our society, she said. The pieces were displayed as smaller prints on lithograph paper, or mica, and larger acrylic paintings on canvas.
“They’re also supposed to illustrate these high standards that society has for us and show how when these standards are taken out of context, they’re really bizarre,” Kwarciany said.
Graphic design majors Anna Harteau and Brittany Barry presented their work in portfolio displays.
“Our styles are partly based on the project’s needs,” Harteau said.
Their projects showed similar interest in identity and branding, said Barry.
“The best part of the program is learning to channel your creativity and break things down and build them back up again,” Barry said.
Chris Engebretson, art and design major, represented his work through a three-dimensional simulation of “how we went from lead-based paint to ethanol.” The piece, “Lamentation for Petroleum,” included latex, steel, wood and laminate flooring materials.
“The latex is like a skin, like the whole thing of human evolution,” Engebretson said.
Each of the four students hold future visions of where they’d like to go. Kwarciany will be working on a couple of murals and interior painting jobs, Harteau will move back to Green Bay to freelance and Engebretson plans to attend the University of North Texas for graduate study in sculpture. Barry still has some time left at UW-SP, but hopes to move to Minneapolis because it’s a “very design-centered city.”
The show was a great grouping of work displayed by the students, said John Smith, associate professor of graphic design. “It’s a real joy to see them grow.”
