As a final farewell to the seniors who make our campus artistic, stop by the Doane Gallery of Art May 4 for the Senior Projects Exhibit.

Graduating Studio Art and Art & Technology majors, along with Junior Seminar art students, will be exhibiting their works.

The Senior Projects Exhibit will feature six artists whose mediums vary widely.

“The senior class this year has a wide range of artistic styles,” said Matt Hoy, ’10, whose work will be  shown. “Even the Junior Seminar — they’ve got an amusing assortment of works.”

The themes these artists portray are just as varied as their mediums, depicting wide ranges of emotions and ideas, from struggles against discrimination and identity to Arthurian symbols of chivalry and the mix between human and plant forms.

Each senior’s theme is one that relates to the community, or society, at large.

“Basically it’s me dressed up in a knight’s costume,” Hoy said of his project. “I wanted to get across the idea that the world today would be better off with the Arthurian chivalry mindset.”

“My project is about a human oneness with nature,” said Jacqueline Navarre, ’10. “I’m making ceramic sculptures of human body parts that make up like flowers. The arms, legs, and lips will look like flowers in the end.”

While Hoy was inspired by the manners he saw lacking in society, Navarre was inspired by a canoeing trip she took in Minnesota.

“We basically were out in the wilderness for a week with no cell phones,” Navarre said. “We just had four canoes and backpacks full of food. We canoed during day, camped at night and did it all again the next day.”

The experience, for Navarre, intrigued her artistic sense of moral responsibility.

“We were completely immersed in nature,” Navarre said. “I came away thinking about how life in Western culture is nothing like that. We’re pretty distant from that. My work suggests we all are a part of nature and should realize that.”

Even students who aren’t concerned with chivalry, or don’t believe in the possibility for the idealized lifestyles captured by Caitlin Solan can find something to enjoy.

“There’s something for everyone there,” Hoy said.

Other senior artists displaying their work include Juanita Campbell–Heredia, Jordan Brooks, James Schwendener and Caitlin Solan.

The work these senior and junior students have put into their projects suggests not just a display of art but an invitation for conversation, an openness of artistic thought that has relevance among both the artistic and the not–so–artistic.

“It’s an idea that I have,” Hoy said. “If I can share my idea with other people, displaying my work is the best way to do that.”

The exhibit will be on display starting May 4 through Saturday, May 15 with a public reception in the galleries Tuesday May 4 from 7 to 9 p.m.

Call (814) 332–4365 for special hours.