Fall 2025 student exhibit

Undergraduate student, Dance

"Study of Michelangelo"

For this piece, I studied Michelangelo’s approach to form, anatomy, and movement, translating his sculptural expertise into a 2D drawing through cross-hatching techniques. Inspired by his mastery of light and shadow, I used fine, layered lines to create depth, volume, and dramatic contrast. This project allowed me to explore the expressive potential of mark-making while honoring Michelangelo’s legacy of dynamic, lifelike figures.

This piece was created for the course ART 1040: Object Drawing.

instagram.com/kristaarman_art

Undergraduate student, Advertising and Promotions

"Greyhounds"

I do art fairs over the summer, and this was part of my 2024 body of work that I presented and sold prints of. I'm primarily a painter, but I also like to see how close to realism I can get with colored pencils a few times a year. 

I drew this piece with Prismacolor colored pencils and another surprising tool - lip balm. Specifically, Burt's Bees. This is to accomplish smoother colors and blending, and I've found Burt's Bees evaporates the fastest. While this is a realism piece, I used blue instead of natural colors to show the strange, ghost-like feeling that greyhounds sometimes have. The blue tones helped me bring out the mood I wanted in a way regular colors couldn’t.

coraalexander1502.wixsite.com/cora-alexander/fine-art

Undergraduate student, Fine Arts

"Season Change"

This process was called a detailed abstraction where you would zoom into an object and create a painting from it. I chose a leaf because of the colors it takes on during the season change from fall to winter. The cool and calming colors were especially used as a therapeutic touch as the time period is a difficult time for a number of people with seasonal depression. This piece is meant to be calming.

This piece was created for the course Painting II.

Graduate student, Educational and Instructional Technology

"16-Bit Fall Matriarch"

I use a variety of vintage and contemporary web design practices to create web-based Art widgets and interactive illustrations. My digital work is not tangible. I find similar enjoyment in using traditional painting/drawing techniques, production art methods, graffiti, and basic woodworking skills to express what I feel are fun and thoughtful, functional Art toys, community artworks, and murals. This work is tangible. I live in the duality. I rely on the strong influences of my youth, comics, video games, skateboarding, pop culture, and relationships with family and friends to create new works of Art whenever the chance arises. While you can find meaning in my work, I often hope the viewer can take a mental break and enjoy the visual aesthetic or interaction with my work.

This piece was originally created for the 2022 'These Hallowed Walls’ group art show at the Move With Joy Studio in Kalamazoo.

instagram.com/garald4 and garald4.com

Undergraduate student, Biology

"Rainbow Washing"

As I was designing this poster, the main thing I wanted was for it to be eye-catching. Colored, bold lettering, a colorful washing machine, and a large rainbow streaking down half the page seemed to tie together the image I had in my head. A catchy line at the top and a thought-provoking statistic helped get my point across without a wall of text, and added to the simplicity of the graphic. I really enjoyed creating a project like this, because it allowed me to spread awareness on a topic that affects everyone, while flexing my creative muscles and focusing on what would make this poster stand out from others.

I created this poster as a final project for my Gender and Women's Media Studies class.

Collaborator: David Zahkarov

Undergraduate student, Civil and Construction Engineering

"What Holds The Sandstone Together? Answering The Question Using Quartz-Cemented St. Peter Sandstone Drilled From 10,000 Feet Below The Surface"

When sandstone is formed from sand on the beach, water gets trapped in the pore spaces between grains. As more layers of sand accumulate, heat and pressure increase, causing the water to evaporate and leave behind crystals of previously dissolved minerals (think salt precipitated at the bottom of a cup). This project focuses on Michigan's St. Peter Sandstone, composed nearly 100% of quartz and featuring many quartz-filled pore spaces, to investigate the physical and chemical differences between quartz in original sand grains and quartz precipitated from trapped fluids. Analysis increases our understanding of sandstone formation conditions, formation fluids, and the practical usefulness of sandstone layers.

This poster is the culmination of two semesters of paid undergraduate research in Dr. David Zakharov's Isotope Geochemistry lab. I have presented it in Dunbar Hall at the College of Arts and Sciences' Research Week (4/9/25), and the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences' Student Research Showcase (4/11/25).

Graduate student, School of Communication

"The Effectiveness of AI Chatbots for Academic Support among WMU Students"

This qualitative study explores how students at Western Michigan University use AI chatbots to support their academic work. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five students enrolled in five different departments, providing diverse perspectives on chatbot use in higher education. The findings reveal that students primarily rely on chatbots for idea generation, concept simplification and synthesizing, and overall learning enhancement. While participants reported increased efficiency and improved understanding, they also expressed concerns about accuracy and the potential for overreliance. The study suggests that AI chatbots can serve as effective academic tools when integrated ethically and with human oversight, by complementing, rather than replacing, independent thinking.

This project and poster were completed for the course COM 6050: Qualitative Communication Research.
 

Undergraduate student, Art Education

"Raymar Court"

I grew up bug-eyed and odd on a small winding driveway called Raymar Court. But sometimes, birds crash into our windows, breaking their pretty necks. I would pick them up, wrap them in leaves, and give them a funeral. When you're that little, every bird that dies feels like an extension of yourself. This piece is about burying the dead birds that haunt you. The people and memories you can't bear to face and leaving your problems behind you at Raymar Court.

instagram.com/motel.moth

Undergraduate student, Graphic Design and Creative Writing

"Design Internship Portfolio"

Over the summer, I had the pleasure of being the Western Michigan University Libraries Graphic Design Intern. The Internship helped me explore real-world experiences while attending the Frostic School of Arts and College of Arts and Sciences for a double major in Graphic Design (BFA) and English with Creative Writing Emphasis (BA) to ultimately help me pursue work in a design firm to get some more experience while also pursuing passions for writing and illustration.