Senior art majors got the opportunity to showcase artworks of their choice while fulfilling a requirement for their degree.

The Department of Visual Art and Design held the opening reception for its “Fall 2018 Senior Exhibition” on Nov. 20 from 5 – 7:30 p.m. in the Contemporary Art Gallery. The exhibition is on display until Dec. 8, and attendees can view the artwork of senior art majors such as Veronica Hall and Heath Feraci.

Hall stated that her works stand out from the rest because they are not typical art pieces found in exhibitions. Since she is concentrating in theatre design, her exhibition contains props that she created for university shows including weapons from “She Kills Monsters.”

Hall explained what message she hopes to promote through her props.

“I really hope that people see the props and really want to go to theatre, and they want to go see the shows, and they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s so cool. I want to see how that was used,’” said Hall. “I feel like, even though this is technically my senior show, and this is where all the things are being seen, I feel like this isn’t the real place for them to be seen. When ‘She Kills Monsters’ ran for the week, that’s when my stuff was being showed. That’s the real audience reaction and the interaction I wanted and got.”

Hall shared that her preparation for creating props for a fall semester show starts during the summer.

“We go over the script as a production team, and then we break up individual parts,” said Hall. “So, my part, what I had to do was just go through the script and pick out anything I thought a prop would be. So, all of those props were looked over by me and the entire production staff. It started in the summer, and it basically went into a couple of days before the show.”

One challenge Hall faced was redesigning weapons to make them lighter for some actors.

Hall explained an ironic perception people have about her.

“I just think it’s funny that a 5-foot-1 woman is making weapons on her own time,” said Hall. “A lot of people are just surprised by that.”

For Feraci, his work displays a personal struggle.

He stated that his exhibition work shows conflict of who he wants to become versus what his temptations want him to become.

“I have been influenced by my love for psychology and concern for emotional and mental health,” explained Feraci. “I do feel as though this project was a calling from God to elaborate on my own struggles in my mind in a visual way to better understand myself and even allow others to do the same.”

Feraci hopes that his art peers notice the Baroque style through his paintings, but he hopes all people see his art as a time to self-reflect.

“I hope to invite the viewer into a self-exploration into their own mind to learn themselves and achieve a deeper sense of self-awareness of who they are,” said Feraci. “I hope to promote a worth of perseverance through dark and confusing times as well as a call for the finding of truth.”

Feraci shared that as his time in college progressed, his artwork shifted from more lighthearted storytelling to a more psychological view of the human experience.

Feraci discussed what he enjoyed about his college experience as well as the three months he spent on his senior exhibition work.

“What I sincerely enjoyed most about my time in college was getting to know my friends that I have and really learning from them and growing from them as a whole,” said Feraci. “As for my project, I most enjoyed bringing what I’ve always felt mentally into the visual realm and being able to see a piece of my own inner experience in front of me.”