This years senior art students boasts the most seniors to graduate in one semester with 42 seniors. Despite the large numbers, all seniors’ work managed to fit into the Contemporary Art Gallery for the Senior Exhibition.
The Lion's Roar/Kelli Meynard

Being an art major requires a tremendous amount of time to not only study, but also to work on many different types of art pieces at a time. The university offers different art concentrations within the Bachelor of Art degrees. 

There are many different types of artists at the university. Students who came to the Contemporary Art Gallery on campus last week got a chance to see these artists display their best pieces.

On Thursday, Apr. 14 from 5 to 7:00 p.m. CAG held the seniors’ art exhibition. Graduating seniors displayed their best pieces of work for friends and family to view while enjoying refreshments.

“We had to come up with a proposal of a body of work that we felt would most represent our skills that we have learned,” said senior art major Kaley Jones. “I had a rough start. I didn’t have anything figured out until last semester and then I fell in love with photography.”

For Jones, nature inspired her to come up with her piece for the senior exhibition. The senior art majors helped each other set up their work in the gallery.

“Something really clicked and then the whole thesis just happened,” said Jones. “It’s nature and romantic inspired work. I couldn’t have gotten to this point without the faculty. Everyone was so much help and that is what made it a really good experience. We all worked together by giving perspectives and telling each other ‘oh no it looks better this way’ and ‘maybe you should hang it like this.’”

Trying to figure out what to choose for a student’s senior exhibition could be considered hard, but for some students like senior art major Alycia Berry, they had it figured out by freshman year.

“My style is a Japanese street style called ‘Sweet Lolita,’” said Berry. “It’s basically what I am wearing. It’s really cute things associated with sweets, pink, cupcakes and really cute pastel palettes. I found this the first semester I was here and I have always been interested in Japanese fashion. When I found it, I was like ‘Oh my God, I have to wear this.’” 

Jones, however, did not have it all figured out. She first was interested in art education and sculpture until falling in love with nature photography.

“Over the past year, I have went through a transformation mentally and physically and I fell in love with landscape while I was in a photography class,” said Jones. “I just started taking a lot of pictures of nature and that’s what I decided to do my piece on. I have always been kind of nature based.”

After graduation, these senior art students will go on to find jobs and careers or try to figure out their next steps in life. 

“I recently have been looking into graduate schools,” said Jones. “I am currently interning at the Hammond Regional Arts Center, and I really like it there as a gallery assistant. I’m going to move home to New Orleans once I graduate and hopefully get into the art scene like I never have before. I am also interested in teaching elementary art.”

 

Students, faculty, staff and family attended the gallery to admire artwork.
The Lion's Roar/Kelli Meynard