Senior show displays meaningful art
The end of the semester is almost here, and Minnesota State seniors now have the chance to display all of their hard work and creativity.
The Conkling Gallery opened its Senior Show Monday, where seniors are able to display their art work for MSU students and staff to view. Many pieces and designs containing a variety of art techniques and forms are on display. As for the seniors, they are given the opportunity to showcase their talent through the artwork they created.
Senior Sophia Schmid is one of the many students taking part in the showcase, and shared her passion for art that grew from when she was young.
“Ever since I was a kid I’ve always really enjoyed art. Ever since I was young, I did a lot of art classes growing up and in high school, and it was always something that I just kept wanting to do, and I would fill all my spare time doing it,” Schmid said.
Schmid also expressed her insight on how art is important to the world, where it can be incorporated into everyday society and how it can help reveal deep meaningful topics.
“I think art has a really important part to play in the world. I think it’s a great way for people to address certain topics or subjects that are personal to them or other people, like as a way of expressing,” she said. “I also see art as a place where you can bring a lot of beauty to the world. I think there’s a lot of goodness that is in art and being creative and expressing yourself in that way can be a really great opportunity for other people in the world to see that and to experience things in a different way.”
The showcase has a variety of pieces, and Schmid revealed the pieces that she created for the showcase were a tulip painting and a ceramics tray. Both pieces have a personal and experimental meaning behind them. She tried out a different technique on her painting and paid tribute to her heritage on her ceramics piece.
“The first one with the tulip painting, it was a little bit more of an experiment with using some more different materials and experimentational materials. I was just trying a different way to hang the painting. And also with adding the embroidery, incorporating some bits of traditional craft and I wanted to make it look a little bit like a tapestry. So there’s a little bit more of experimentation with that,” she said. “And then with probably one of my favorite ceramic pieces that I put in, with the tray, both my mom and my dad’s side of the family are very German. So I wanted to incorporate that German kind of folk art design so that’s more of a personal element. I’m kind of painting for my own heritage and creating that design and incorporating that into my ceramics so that’s a little bit more of a personal piece to me.”
Having her art displayed at a gallery for everyone to see as a senior, Schmid offers advice to first-year students majoring in the art field or for anyone who is interested in art.
“I think to really push yourself and just really open up to experimenting. I think it’s really helpful. Experimenting with things that maybe you’re not comfortable with and going outside your comfort zone when you’re coming to your artwork. Just trying a lot of new things that you’ll never really know what you like,” she said. “Show dedication to your work, because I definitely would not have grown as much as I have in my work if I hadn’t dedicated it to just my projects in my classes. So take the opportunity. You have the time and the materials to be able to really improve your artwork and to create a lot of really amazing work, so take advantage of that.”
Students can stop by the Conkling Gallery located in Nelson Hall until Dec. 1 to see the displayed designs and art pieces.
Write to Anahi Zuniga at anahi.zuniga@mnsu.edu
Header Photo: The Senior Showcase will appear in Conkling Gallery in Nelson Hall until Dec. 1, featuring the art of Fall 2023 graduates, including Minnesota State senior Sophia Schmid. (Nate Tilahun/The Reporter)