By Alyssa Pflug
The works of 12 Youngstown State University students are on display at the McDonough Museum of Art as part of the fall graduation exhibition for bachelor of fine arts majors. The exhibition runs through Dec. 10.
Leslie Brothers, professor of the Senior Seminar course at YSU, said it serves as the capstone for students in the creative arts.
“[The course] is a mix of guest lectures by artists and professionals along with training in museum practice, art installation and preparing an artist statement,” Brothers said.
She mentioned that the shows are very important to McDonough Museum as well as the students.
“it is our opportunity to share with the public the exceptional innovative work of both studio and graphic and interactive design majors graduating in the department of art,” Brothers said.
Nathan Unger, a graduating senior in the graphic and interactive design program, said the program has helped him develop skills through real-world experiences including participating in several advertising competitions.
Unger said his senior exhibition has been in the works since his junior year at YSU along with adding in some recent projects solely for the exhibition.
“It is very rewarding to have all my hard work and dedication from the past four years to be seen by my family, friends and professors while at the exhibition,” Unger said.
Some of the pieces Unger has displayed in the exhibition include a redesigned movie poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, a poster series for the department of art and a children’s book for Making Kids Count to raise awareness towards bullying.
Annette Gottuso, a fine arts major, began working with painting and printmaking during her sophomore year and has been working with them ever since. She began working on her senior project just this year.
“I have been working on my senior project since the beginning of the semester, but I have been working with the concept of memory and perception for a few years now,” she said.
Gottuso said she started thinking about misperceptions in order to have conversations with her mother about their past and times when they did not see eye to eye. She started with portraits and used screen printing to make line drawings over the portraits to convey the idea of covering things up and manipulating them.
“The paintings are more exemplary of memory and time with the staining and overlay of the line work,” she said.
Brothers said it is beneficial for students to participate in the exhibition.
“It gives them the experience of exhibiting their work in a professional art museum before leaving YSU.” she said. “It is a great opportunity for other students on campus to find out what their peers in the department of art are up to.”
