Senior art majors Abigail Cool, Ella Rose Klein, Ellia He, Kathrine Edison, and Phaedra Kelley will put their art from the past four years on display this Friday, April 10, at their exhibition, “Formed.”

The show will be held in the Daughtrey Art Gallery in the Sage Fine Arts Building and will include 20-25 pieces from each artist’s portfolio. A reception from 6-8 p.m. on Friday will begin the show, and it will run until Tuesday, April 14, at 5 p.m.

Art majors use this as an opportunity to show their best work from their time at Hillsdale, according to Cool, who said more than half of her work that will be on display has been created during her senior year.  

Part of Cool’s display will include “Lemons, Still Life,” a watercolor she painted in her freetime this semester, and “Complementary, Still Life,”  an oil painting she created in class this semester.

“I’m just excited to see it on the walls,” Cool said. “I feel like the art show has taken over my life. It’s all I think about from the moment I wake up to when I lay down.”

Even though it was one of her first creations at Hillsdale, Klein said a graphite self-portrait from Drawing I is her favorite piece in the show, because it was pivotal to her becoming an art major.

“Our final project for Drawing I was to make a self-portrait,” Klein said. “I made mine, and I sent my mom a photo, and I asked her, ‘Can I please be an art major?’ And when she saw it, she finally said yes. So there was no going back.”

Cool said that Drawing I with Julio Suarez, chairman of the art department and associate professor of art, persuaded her to switch from a biology major to an art major.

“Suarez opens up your little eyes, and you see the world differently,” Cool said. “I think that’s so cliche, but you learn how to be disciplined, while also trying to figure out, ‘What the heck is Suarez trying to get me to see, like, how does he want me to draw?’” 

Although she hopes to continue to grow her talent as an art major after college, Cool said she is excited for others to view her current work. 

“When you put so much time into something, it takes away from other areas of your life, especially your friends and your family,” Cool said. “So, this is kind of an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, look, this is what I’ve spent all this time creating.’” 

Klein and Cool both said they have gained a sense of discipline from the art major.

“It is tough doing art, and you have to be in the right mindset,” Klein said. “So it’s given me patience for sure, and discipline.”

The discipline Cool has learned as an art major has been carried into all areas of her life, making her the person she is today, she said. 

“Being in the art department, you become more confident in yourself and in the work you’re producing,” Cool said. “At any stage, it’s like an open wound, and anybody can come walk by.”

Viewing “Formed” will be more than just pretty art. It will be a source of inspiration, according to Klein.

“Any art major or minor, anybody who’s taken an art class, will know how hard it really is,” Klein said. “But I am super proud of my work, and everybody else involved, their work as well.”