Seniors shared their favorite works along with their plans for the future after graduation on Nov. 19 in the Crossman Gallery. At the end of every semester UW-Whitewater’s Department of Art and Design showcases a number of graduating seniors’ artwork in the Crossman Gallery. The students completing their Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Education degrees choose any 10 pieces of artwork that they have created while studying at UW-W. These are then put on display in order to commemorate the end of their college career.
This fall show featured five students: Ayyanna Dominguez, Maddie Peters, Madison Gilbank, Olivia Hunt and Wenshou Wu. Metals, ceramics, printmaking, promotional posters, acrylic paintings, packaging design and hand drawn artwork filled the gallery. Each artist displayed a variety of mediums that showcased the talent and skills they learned in their past four years.
“I am a little nervous about graduation, but I think I’m ready,” said art education major Madison Gilbank. “I think that after I’m done student teaching next semester that I’ll be even more ready and even more prepared to hopefully inspire a new generation of artists.”
Gilbank’s artwork on display is a mix of fun bright colors and her exploration into more serious subject matter.
“I have a drawing that I made in my drawing 4 class on display. That piece is a large drawing of a mouth. I created it to bring awareness to violence against women,” Gilbank said. “That’s something I’ve been focusing a lot on this semester in my advanced drawing class.”
As an art education major, Gilbank’s college career has been a combination of art and education classes. After a semester with no art courses, Gilbank took a course last spring that inspired her to try to explore deeper topics in her art.
“I took art theory with Deborah Wilk last year, and it was mind blowing, like genuinely phenomenal. My entire outlook, I’m not going to say changed because I’ve always had an interest in art, but my entire outlook got broader and it inspired me to want to make more art,” Gilbank said. “She just opened my eyes a little bit more and made me think more deeply about the history behind the art and looking at all the different perspectives in it.”
Fellow senior artist Olivia Hunt also expressed her gratitude for the professors that helped her grow while in undergrad.
“I think I’m going to miss my professors the most. I feel like I still have so much to learn from them, and I just don’t want to stop learning,” Hunt said. “I have too many favorite professors. They’ve all really inspired me.”
Hunt is also an art education major who is graduating this spring. Her collection of pieces in the show demonstrated her talents in two and three dimensional art, but her preferred modes of creating are painting and charcoal drawings.
“My favorite piece is my cat painting which I named ‘Citrus Dreams.’ It’s a painting where I used a collage I made as reference. I just really like that one because it’s so random, and I enjoy all of the elements I added to it,” Hunt said. “Most of my pieces don’t really have a deeper meaning. They’re mostly based on my interests, but I feel like after I finish them, they stick with me. I see a lot of nostalgia in my work; I like off the wall things. I like things that make you uncomfortable to look at but they’re still pretty.”
Hunt’s time at UW-W helped her grow not only as an artist, but it also has helped provide a supportive environment that has helped her feel more comfortable.
“I definitely feel like my confidence grew. I feel like I speak up more, and I feel more sure of myself and less anxious to talk to other students,” Hunt said. “I’m really enjoying my printmaking class right now because it feels like a small community. It’s nice to come into a classroom where everyone knows each other, and I don’t feel like I have to be stressed; I have social anxiety, so positive environments like that help lessen it.”
Wenshu Wu, a BA with an emphasis in graphic design, also talked about the impact finding community in the arts has had on him. He says what he’ll miss most about UW-Whitewater after graduation is going to be the people.
“All of the people here are really friendly. All of the professors, my classmates, my coworkers, everyone is just so nice,” Wu said. “I learned a lot at UW-W. I enjoyed it a lot. I have a great job, great classes and some good friends. Everyone has treated me great.”
Wu is an international student who is graduating this December. Along with his studies, Wu has worked as a graphic designer at UW-W’s University Center for over a year. There, he’s been able to experience what a working environment for a graphic designer is like and also create quite a few poster designs to add to his portfolio.
“I think my favorite works in the show are my UC posters. I only have three of them in the show, but I have designed a lot of posters for the University Center,” Wu said. “My favorite one is one I did for SungBeats, a beatboxer who performed for UC Live. I thought it was really cool; I really liked the color palette I used and the sunglasses.”
“Another piece in the show was a water bottle design I did,” Wu said. “I designed everything: the packaging, logo and the label.”
Wu’s plans for after graduation are to find a job working as a graphic designer and putting all of the skills he’s learned to good use.
“I’m excited for graduation. I’ve been here for four years, and I’ve been learning and getting real work experience in the UC, so I think I’m ready,” Wu said.
You can stop into the Crossman Gallery located in the Greenhill Center of the Arts anytime from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The Senior Showcase will be on display until Dec. 11.
