On Friday March 1 five seniors’ countless hours and all-nighters spent in the Art Department paid off as their work was showcased to family and peers in the Shore Art Gallery for “Signature: A Senior Art Show”.
Artwork from seniors Lene Botha graphic design major from Richardson, and Ashley Beddingfield graphic design major from Nocona, could be seen on display throughout the 2,200-square-foot gallery.
“This whole production was an effort done solely by the five of us,” participant Lene Botha explained.
Each of the students contributed to making the show happen by organizing the gallery to display their work nicely, producing flyers and promotional material, arranging food for guests to enjoy and many other tasks that prepared the successful display of their efforts.
The pieces of art on display were completed by the five seniors as assignments for various art classes taken during their time at ACU. Styles of the work consisted of painting, photography, sculpture and graphic design.
“It made me feel really awesome seeing my family, friends and strangers appreciate these pieces I’ve been working on for the past few years,” Ashley Beddingfield noted as she sat in the gallery still filled with their artwork in the show’s aftermath.
“I feel like we’re locked up away in the art building all the time, and being able to show people what we’re actually doing is really gratifying,” Botha said.
Interestingly, neither Beddingfield nor Botha started out in the Art Department; Beddingfield studied biology for pre-veterinarian work while Botha pursued business before making the switch to graphic design.
“I didn’t do very well in accounting originally. I would look through my notes before a test and they would just consist of drawings and doodles. That’s the moment when I realized that I was probably meant be an art major,” Botha said.
Since many of the pieces had been completed in past semesters, each member of the show had the chance to revise older work in their portfolio class if they were displeased with or wanted to improve their material.
Beddingfield said she intentionally did not chose to display any of her work that she completed as an underclassman.
Both of the girls voiced their deep appreciation of the quality of ACU’s Art Department and their professors, specifically Nil Santana, photography professor, and Ryan Feerer, graphic design professor.
“I’m kind of sad it’s over, but we can all focus on some other important things now,” Botha said.
The artists will now look onward to an ACU art competition to be held at the end of the semester, and soon the five articipants will file their work away in their portfolios with graduation and job-hunting swiftly approaching.
