When she was a sophomore at AU, Shania Bishop was told that her artwork would be featured at the Wilson Art Gallery for her senior year.
Like the other visual communication design majors who wait to be featured at the gallery for their senior show, Bishop was excited. She has since been anxiously awaiting this moment.
The seniors do not have to wait much longer, because the Wilson Art Gallery will be celebrating their creativity on Saturday, Nov. 17, from 3-5 p.m.
The gallery opening welcomes any guests, including AU students, faculty and family.
“Now it’s here, and it’s surreal that this is my senior show,” said Bishop, a double major in visual communication design and business marketing.
“I think that having a project I’m passionate about being on display adds to the nostalgia,” she said. “I couldn’t ask for a better way to wrap up my college career.”
After finishing her college career at AU, Bishop will work as a professional designer at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
“I can’t wait to see what my future has in store,” she said. “Thank you, AU; I wouldn’t be who I am without this place.”
With hopes to find a career that lets her “freely and creatively think about solving problems,” Emily Badger is another senior design major who will be featured in the gallery.
“I have always been a creative person growing up,” said Badger. “I used to sit and build things out of paper when I was a child.”
To Badger, art is emotive, “driven by passion.”
Senior Anna Takayoshi, who is a double major in writing and visual communication design, also has nostalgia for her childhood roots in art.
“I grew up loving all kinds of art, design, photography and painting,” she said. “I always knew I wanted to go into a creative field because I fell in love with the balance between creativity and problem solving that graphic design requires.”
Takayoshi is motivated by the excitement in store for she and her classmates’ whose artwork is being displayed at the opening. In her time as a student, her classmates and professors have encouraged her to come farther than she’d have ever expected.
“As I prepare for this gallery opening I am continually reminded of how hard we have worked, not only for this show, but our entire college career,” said Takayoshi.
Feeling that his identity has transformed at AU, senior design major Preston Magsig is also excited to share his creative work at the opening.
“I have learned so much at this place,” said Magsig. “Sharing my work with others and having them see what I’ve created is something so personal and special to me, and having the gallery as a space to facilitate that interaction is amazing.”
Drawing inspiration out of everything from nature to music, Magsig is determined that art is his purpose in life.
“Art has always been a passion of mine throughout the years, but that passion has only begun to flourish here during my time at AU,” Magsig said. “Art and design are my biggest forms of expression and always will be.
“I study visual communication design at Anderson firstly because I am a creative person and this program has allowed me to really develop that and experience ways that I will be able to use my creativity throughout my life and career,” said Magsig. “All of my professors here have poured so much into me, and I have learned so much from them as well as my peers.
“I am constantly growing here,” said Magsig. “AU has such an amazing space available to us in the visual communication department, an environment that encourages growth with amazing faculty and students alike.”
He said that his studies in AU visual design have helped him perceive “art as a way to problem solve and express ideas and messages in a visual format.”
After he graduates, Magsig hopes to do freelance work.
“As far as my future goes, art and design will always be there in some form,” said Magsig.
While he sees himself working in a creative environment to begin his career, Magsig hopes to be a freelance designer “with a very diverse client base.”
“A lot of what I do is inspired by music,” he said. “I got my start in design by doing cover art for some of the artists that I love listening to. Relating my art and design back to music is something that I will always do even if only on my own time.”
Bishop is also proud of her career at AU.
“I chose AU primarily for the Falls School of Business,” she said. “However, I’m so glad that I chose to be involved with the visual communications program as well. It’s a difficult major, but it helps knowing that the professors have your back. I owe everything to them, and I’m blessed to have studied under them.”
Reminiscing her childhood, Bishop said, “Ever since I was young, I’ve doodled on napkins and excelled in art classes.”
She added, “I love it,” and that is why she is a proud student of visual design and business marketing at AU.
Speaking for herself and her fellow seniors, Bishop said, “As this show marks the end of our college career, it makes me excited to look toward the future.”
The gallery is open to the public, and the official show opening will take place on Saturday, Nov. 17, from 3-5 p.m. in the Wilson Art Gallery.