Senior artists Veronica Fogo, Cecelia Jansen, Joel Mayer, Julia Widhalm, and Emma Cuneo invite students to connect with the artistic side of campus at the first senior art exhibit of the year. There will be a formal reception and exhibit March 27 at 6 p.m. in the Daughtry Art Gallery. The seniors chose “Connection” as the theme for their show, inspired by faith, relationships, and the rich artistic history they have studied, Jansen said. 

The exhibit is a collection of 20 to 25 works of art by each senior artist from their time at Hillsdale. The pieces range from their earliest work – self portraits done in Drawing 1 – to their greatest oil paintings. 

According to Jansen, a lot of work and planning has gone into preparing for the exhibit.

“The art seniors take a ‘portfolio’ class during the fall semester, which is largely dedicated to preparing for the senior show,” Jansen said. “We do a lot of work in creating personalized logos, invoices, statements, and art resumes, putting together a digital portfolio, and working on a major studio project of our choice outside of class.” 

The exhibit showcases not only what they’ve created in the studio, but what they’ve learned about framing and presenting their art.

“As the department has professional guidelines on framing for the show, seniors are especially encouraged to buy frames and cut mat boards for their pieces throughout the whole year, so they don’t find themselves scrambling to put it all together right before their show,” Jansen said. “We hang the show on our own as well, so we try to keep in mind a certain cohesiveness in the frames that we’re looking for.”

Putting the show together is a lot of hard work, but it also can be seen as an outlet for creativity, Fogo said. 

“Ideally, I think the frames can definitely bring your show together and elevate the art piece,” she said.

Fogo said most of her pieces are oil paintings and watercolors, and she looks forward to exhibiting her favorite oil painting, a master copy of “Johnny” by Philip de Laszlo.

Although Jansen’s favorite medium is oil painting, most of her work exhibited will be drawings. 

“I have a pretty drawing-heavy show, which I am happy about,” Jansen said.

Fogo said she always enjoyed going to senior art shows throughout the years, and now she’s excited that it’s finally her turn. 

“I always looked up to them so much and loved going to their shows,” Fogo said. “So it’s cool and surreal that now it’s my turn to do that.”

According to Fogo, it’s easy to miss a lot of what happens on campus, and it’s especially easy to miss what happens in the art department. She encourages students from all different sides of campus to come to the opening reception.

“People who maybe don’t frequent the art building as much should come see what the art students do, and get acquainted with more of campus,” Fogo said. “Also, hopefully they just are struck by a piece or two, by its beauty.” 

Jansen said the senior art exhibits are a perfect way for the senior artists to be recognized for the work they’ve done during their time at Hillsdale. 

“I’m really excited for everyone who comes to the show to witness a different part of Hillsdale’s culture and see the fruits of the work that the seniors have cultivated over their time here,” Jansen said. “I think the senior art exhibitions are a great testament to the amount of time and hard work students put into their artwork, and really emphasize to us that art is meant to be shared with a community of people.”