Art is a huge part of Mercyhurst life— whether or not the general student population acknowledges it, art surrounds us no matter where we are on campus.

We are lucky enough, however, to come in contact with works from professional artists, local artists and art done by our fellow students.

A set of eight stunning “grid” style works of art currently line the first floor of Zurn Hall, each a collaborative piece by four students who were to choose an object and focus on various aspects that would create a variety of facets.

“The process behind our work was basically brainstorming different methods and styles to use, putting a couple tiles together each, and once it had all come together, we had to arrange it so it all came together. We used such techniques as photo manipulation, pointillism, and collage in order to show off the varied styles present in art,” sophomore Jeff Krull said.

Being a musician, the first one that caught my attention was a piece titled “Wind Ensemble” by freshmen Amanda Shepka, Emily Trimble, Sabrina VanTine and Angela Zanaglio. The 9-panel grid features different angles and variations of instruments found in a wind ensemble that clearly shows an advanced awareness and ability to illustrate imaginative processes.

“Hookah” is a work by freshmen Garrett Erwin and Brandon Maurice, along with juniors Morgan Hornyak and Jonathan Riley. This work takes a Hookah and turns it into something abstract, playful and interesting.

“Hookah came about by a group collaboration in attempting to pick an object that had different parts all together. Each person in our group talked to each other and created a few works individually that were unique and used many different mediums, and by process of elimination, the grid works came together to express our object,” Erwin said.

Collaborative art is, in a way, more difficult than a solo work in that an artist is working with the creative processes of a number of other individuals, so it is challenging to picture how the final product will look.

“We had never worked on a collective art project before so it was a little challenging at first since everyone had their own vision of what the work should look like. But in the end it all worked out and the piece was something we could all appreciate,” said freshman Emily Zielinski, who contributed to the work titled “Night Life.”

Each piece showed clear vision and creative versatility. I highly recommend visiting the first floor hallway in Zurn Hall, across from the dance studio windows and seeing this spectacular art for yourself.