The Martha Gault Art Gallery presented the Bachelor of Fine Arts Spring 2021 exhibitions, which represent the capstone projects completed by art majors graduating in May 2021. Martha Gault Art Gallery held their receptions on April 12 and April 20.
The student artists showcased in the gallery through April 12-15 were Makaila Banka presenting Pennsylvania Endangered Wildflowers, Sam Firkaly presenting Digestive Health, Victoria Grabosky presenting Obake Karuta, and Teya Heller presenting Bliss.
The student artists showcased in the gallery through April 19-22 were MacKenzie Garry presenting Simply Modern, Nicole McGuirk presenting On the Horizon, and Madison Wick presenting Bloom.
Senior Wick presented Bloom which focused on growth and self-love shown through fibers and ceramics. Wick’s fibers presented a more literal view of the progression of self-love and body image. Through the four fiber art pieces, the message progresses to a place where you feel more comfortable with yourself.
For Wick’s ceramic work, she continued the theme of the fiber pieces and showcased a series of four vases that signify growth and progression. Wick spoke on her thinking process when creating Bloom.
“A lot of my artwork in the past has kind of been scattered and random in terms of the theme and what it’s about,” said Wick. “I wanted to challenge myself to stick to one theme.”
McGuirk presented On the Horizon which represent her time at SRU through paintings. Her paintings tell the story of the next steps in her adventures and each painting represents a year or years of her life.
“I have been at SRU for seven years, so a couple of the paintings represent multiple years,” said McGuirk. “So, it started off as a sunrise and calm and then a couple years before the storm, and then I had a bad couple years so that is what is symbolized by the storm. Then the sunset represents coming to an end and it is anticipating what is next for the day or chapter.
Garry presented Simply Modern which focused on a variety of modern ceramic pieces. Her pieces consist of vases, small cups, dinner sets, small jewelry bowls, and other decorative pieces. Garry also made vegan soy candles to more of an intimate decorative piece.
Garry spoke on her thinking process when creating the name for her artwork.
“I went through a few names trying to figure out what I wanted it to be about, and I started with Simply Abundant,” said Garry. “I did not want to set myself up for failure with not having enough pieces, so I went with ‘modern’ because I look to social media and look at people’s lifestyles. I picked four colors that are popular colors of this time, therefore it’s modern.”
Director of the Martha Gault Art Gallery Theresa Antonellis congratulated the seniors on their hard work this semester.
“The significance of this capstone project is heightened considering the perseverance needed to succeed in this semester of social distancing,” said Antonellis. “Their professors and parents have every right to be exceedingly proud of them and their accomplishments. Personally, I am very happy for each of them. Congratulations and ‘very well done’ to the art majors graduating this Spring 2021 who produced such amazing artworks and exhibitions.”
