Art students kick off the fall semester by showcasing artwork through student-led exhibits demonstrating skills that they will keep throughout their careers.
Art is one of the majors and minors offered at Eureka College. Through the major, students will gain multiple characteristics such as creativeness, leadership, passion, and more. There are also lots of internship opportunities available such as Easter Seals, Red Raccoon, and more. After college there are many career opportunities for art majors such as photographer, arts administrator, creative filmmaker, and more.
According to one of Eureka College’s Art faculty, Professor Chris Wille, student-led exhibits have been a yearly tradition for about 20 years. There is so much more being done by students behind the scenes than we realize. Students create cards to advertise their show, titles, statements and many more intricate details that must be done to produce the exhibit. Before the show, students are offered feedback on rough drafts and learn the hierarchies inherent in the field. An example of this is Professor Wille instructing the students to build a wood crate to ship their work. These exhibits are so much more than putting art on a wall.
“For many students this is the first opportunity to publicly show their work, and very often this is a solo show, which in the art world are the top shows you can have. Not many institutions allow any student who wants to take a class this opportunity, in many ways this makes our Art and Design program unique,” Professor Wille said.
Senior kinesiology major and art minor Hannah Burkiett kicked off the first student-led art exhibit of the year on October 11th.
Her theme was personal growth, representing her life journey to where she is now. Her show included nine digital prints drawn on her iPad then printed on 14 x 16-inch papers. Bukietts favorite piece is “Broken but Beautiful”, showing a shattered sword intertwined by a vine of roses. This is her favorite as it is specifically made for her story, she plans on getting this piece tattooed on her in January.
Just like any project, there were some challenges. Burkiett hosted the first show of the semester, giving her the least amount of time to prepare for the exhibit. This was difficult for her as she had to limit some of her ideas, causing her to make some hard choices on what pieces to create and submit. Regardless of the obstacles faced, if given the opportunity, Burkiett would host another art show as she would love to expand upon her ideas and showcase her abilities even more. Burkiett has never shown her art before, and this experience has taught her a valuable lesson about herself.
“My biggest takeaway is that I can do anything I put my mind to,” Burkiett said.
With this, she gave advice for those who may be worried about hosting their first exhibit,
“Follow your heart and don’t be scared to express your love and passion. Everyone is different,” Burkiett said.
Kathy Flores is a senior transfer-student from Heartland Community College, who is majoring in art at Eureka College this year. She has been working on her project as a whole for about two years, and for her newer projects, she has been working on since the beginning of the fall semester. Flores has three of her projects done and hopes to complete five to six total pieces before her art show. A common theme for Flores’ art pieces is a pop of color and detailed art. Her inspiration for these art pieces is an artist called Amanda Beth who showcases pop of color and fine details in her art pieces.
Flores does not have a name for it yet, but her favorite art piece that she has made for the art show is a pastel drawing of a bike and a boot.
“The splashes of color and it was the first time fully doing a pastel drawing and incorporating colors into the other objects that typically go in there,” she said.
Her show will be toward the end of the 2024 fall semester from November 4th-8th.The art show will be in the Burgess building on the third floor of the art showing room.
Destiny Evans is a senior at Eureka College this year, majoring in art and minoring in psychology. She has been working on her art pieces since 2019 and her newer work since spring of 2024. Evans’ inspiration for her art pieces is her past work and buildings with plant overgrowth. Her artwork has lots of different sizes and mediums. She has many different types of art such as ceramics, mixed media, colored pencil, graphite, and watercolor. Her overall goal is to do 13 pieces of art total.
Evans also expresses how this class and the creation of her projects will help her in the future.
“It’s a good opportunity for me to showcase my theme and they will look good on my resume. I work with a lot of mixed media, and it will showcase my skills,” Evans said.
Her art show will be from November 18th-22nd, towards the end of the fall semester.
All exhibits will be held in the Burgess building in the art room on the third floor. These art shows are open to all students for free, with lemonade and cookies for guests as they browse. Some pieces will also be up for sale, prices changing as artists see fit.
