On Thursday Nov. 15, graduating seniors presented their artwork to the public for the Fall Senior Exhibition. Artwork included graphic design, new media and animation and traditional studio art.
“Of all of the senior shows that I’ve observed, this is one of the most impressive, certainly from a design point of view,” said Kenneth Boulton, interim department head of the department of fine and performing arts. “It just represents the overall strength of the department in a really meaningful way.”
The art exhibit included the work students prepared for their senior review, a requirement for graduation.
“Every senior, in order to graduate, has to pass a senior review,” said Dale Newkirk, director of the art gallery and associate professor of sculpture. “For the seniors in art, this is kind of a celebration of their work, and probably more important than when they walk and get their diploma.”
The seniors who presented their work were very excited for people to see what they’ve done. Jonathan Kendall, a senior new media and animation major, talked about seeing people react to his mixed media sculpture representing human interaction with the environment.
“It’s interesting to see everybody’s reaction to it,” said Kendall. “Everybody’s got a different way of looking at it, and that’s what I basically wanted in the first place. Whether it’s positive or negative, I don’t really care about that, just as long as they’re seeing it.”
Trent Palm, a senior majoring in new media and digital animation presented an interactive 3-D digital piece.
“Essentially I created an art game in which you play a character that ages inside a virtual world, and it kind of just takes you into these experiences as you explore the environment. And hey, you die at the end,” said Palm. “It’s really cool to see people interacting with it, because I’ve been working on it for a long time.”
For some, finally having their art displayed for everyone to see after all the work they put into it was relieving.
“It’s been a long time, and it’s finally all paying off,” said John LaPrime, a senior graphic design major. “I was nervous about it in the days leading up to it, just trying to get it all set up, but now that it’s all ready and people are checking it out; it really starts to feel real. It feels good.”
The seniors are now ready for graduation and looking forward to working in the real world.
“I’ve been ready for a long time now. I’ve learned a lot in my four years here, but I’m excited to get out and go work in the real world,” said Lauren Carroll, a senior majoring in graphic design.
Many of the seniors had family and friends with them who enjoyed the different types of works presented.
“The interactive stuff was cool, I haven’t seen a lot of stuff like that,” said Emily LaPrime, a senior from Slidell High, John LaPrime’s sister. “They had the mat, that was neat. Some of the things that you took out of the bags, those were really cool. It’s different, I haven’t seen some of this stuff before, and it’s always cool to see stuff that’s new.”
The instructors that came out also had positive comments about the works presented.
“I think everyone’s done a wonderful job,” said Timothy Silva, instructor of art history. “You’ve got so many different areas of interest here, you can just see the different personality of everyone.”
The seniors’ work will be on display until Saturday, Dec. 8 in the Contemporary Art Gallery.