Exhibit honors senior designers
The Kaleidoscope art show features award-winning graphic design work
When one looks through the small lens of a kaleidoscope, a world of shifting colors and shapes appears, delighting the eye and enlivening the imagination. But it all depends on how one looks through the lens and moves the scope around.
PUT ON DISPLAY — Guests walked through the art gallery and admired artwork from current seniors. Photo credit: Courtney Russo
The same is true of graphic design.
Kaleidoscope is the name of the graphic design exhibit currently featured in the Liberty University Art Gallery. The exhibit features the work of 52 senior graphic design students who are part of Liberty’s department of Studio and Digital Arts (SADA).
“One of the main reasons for the exhibit is to allow students to showcase the work they have done throughout the duration of their program here at Liberty,” Todd Smith, SADA chair, said. “The program stresses that student work is done to give God glory and reflect his creativity. Our goal is for students to go into the fields of art and design to act as salt and light, so the senior show is one of their first opportunities to do that.”
Luke Stevens, a senior who designed the promotional items for the Kaleidoscope exhibit, said he thought the name was fitting.
“I think that’s a good description of culmination,” Stevens said. “Multiple pieces and colors make this one whole, and I really think that’s what they were going for. … I guess, for me, designing all of these things, designing the postcards and the handouts and the poster, it’s kind of the same thing. All these little pieces that make one branding project for the show.”
Despite the damp, rainy weather, dozens of students, faculty and community members attended Kaleidoscope’s artist reception at the art gallery Thursday, March 19.
“In each case, you can see the personality of the designer, even (in) the colors or the fonts,” Taylor Fedena, a sophomore studying graphic design, said. “The fonts express different moods — bright, cheerful colors express happy and joyful emotions, whereas deep, dark colors like black or brown are expressing more of a deep sentiment, … maybe inner turmoil. … The work is astounding, and the ability at this school is outstanding.”
Because of the individual personality inserted into every piece of artwork and the many hours spent perfecting a composition, Liberty has the ability to boast in the award-winning talented artists. According to an article by the Liberty University News Service, 39 SADA students won a combined 75 American Advertising Awards at the Western Virginia Advertising Awards competition in Roanoke, Virginia, Feb. 28. Of the awards given, 34 were gold and 41 were silver, in addition to Judge’s Choice and Best of Student Work categories. Some of these award-winning pieces are being featured as a part of the Kaleidoscope exhibit, along with other senior portfolio work.
Stevens was one of the students who won a silver award at the Western Virginia Advertising Awards competition for his hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animation, “Rebirth.”
The animation is composed of more than 300 hand-drawn frames and took Stevens four days to complete.
Soren Conrad, a senior whose work is featured in Kaleidoscope, won two gold awards at the competition in Roanoke: one for her “Teavana Ad Poster,” and another for her book design, “Making It: A Freshman Girl’s College Survival Guide.” Conrad appreciates the professional experience the exhibit provides.
“Kaleidoscope feels like an acknowledgement of our undergrad(uate) adventure and evokes the feeling of our class being propelled into the real world of design,” Conrad said. “I personally am extremely grateful for the SADA department here at Liberty and everything the faculty has taught us. Liberty is an excellent school for liberal arts and sciences, but it also has an amazing SADA degree. I’m so thankful that I (get) to earn my graphic design degree from Liberty.”
Kelsey Bengston, a senior at Liberty, won a gold award for “The Wilderness Logo,” a logo she designed for her proposed restaurant called “The Wilderness,” an upscale eatery specializing in wild game. Bengston said Kaleidoscope helped her see where she came from as a transfer student to Liberty and where she is headed as a graduating senior.
“When you look through a kaleidoscope, it’s always changing, always rotating, and so (in graphic design), you’re always developing as an artist,” Bengston said.
“(Graphic design) is always changing, whether it’s in the field or different trends or styles that are coming out. … Kaleidoscope shows the process and it shows the change.”
Kyle Fletcher, a senior who created a promotional billboard concept for the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre, considered it a privilege to have his work on display as part of Kaleidoscope alongside the work of his fellow students.
“Having my work featured in the exhibit is such an honor. Not only to have something I created being put on display, but that my art is surrounded by some of the most talented graphic designers out there,” Fletcher said. “It’s a humbling experience, and I’m proud of everyone who has worked so hard these past four years to get to this moment.”
The Kaleidoscope exhibit is on display until March 26 and is not only a celebration of the creativity and diversity among the Liberty University student body, but it is also a reflection of a master artist.
“‘Kaleidoscope’ simply means light being used to bring out beauty in something,” Fletcher said. “So personally, I see us as artists using the talents given to us by God with his light being illuminated through us, ultimately (producing) work that is so attractive and creative, (and) in my opinion, more appealing. Sometimes when I create art, I think, ‘There is no way I could ever come up with something worth looking at,’ but I am constantly reminded that God has given me something and that his light prevails over my insecurities.”
GRAF is a feature reporter.