Tyler Stauffer photoOn Saturday, March 13, the Cummings Art Gallery opened its doors to the public with a reception that debuted the senior art thesis show, “Mind Mapping.” It features the works of 13 graduating senior art students.

The students chose the title of their show this year–a subject based on a diagram used to generate ideas based on structure, theme and visualization of ideas.

The show represents seniors in graphic design, art education and studio art exploring such media as digital print on canvas, watercolor on gesso, Photoshop, mixed media, silverprints and acrylic and crayons.

“The students worked extremely hard in developing thesis statements and then devoting the concentrated hours toward art making. I believe that the exhibit speaks well for the art department and for Mercyhurst College,” art department chairman Daniel Burke said.

Jeremy Weber’s “Exploration 1-17” explores the use of crayons and mixed media together, while working with the concepts of color and the ordinary objects of everyday life.

Also on view is Maggie McKosky’s “Nature Series I-VIII,” a still life study of flowers and leaves exploring the use of color and a light table.

“It’s nice to see such a diversified body of work from the seniors, in both media and particularly style,” sophomore studio major Trevor Surgener said.

Betsy Morningstar’s mixed media series depicts the view of beauty and women’s struggle to fulfill their pursuits of beauty, while Kristie Wenzel explored mixed media with everyday utensils and used materials such as nails, bottle caps, mirrors and silverware.

“When viewing the senior theses this year, I was pleased to see that all the students took different approaches to representing their subject matter, from 2D and 3D to traditional and documentary styles of work. The exhibit got me thinking about participating in the thesis course my senior year,” sophomore art therapy major Samantha Fiorello said.

The show will be on view until March 31 in the Cummings Gallery.
The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday 2-5 p.m. and Thursday 7-9 p.m. For any questions or information about the work on view, contact the gallery director, Heather Danna, at (814) 824-2982.