Department of Art and Design - Indiana State University

06/04/2026

05/25/2026

Our Final 2026 BFA Exhibiton Seniors! Meet Grace Martin, Reece Harper, and Max Murphy 🌟

GRACE MARTIN
"I’m Grace Martin, and I am a BFA student with a concentration in Graphic Design and a minor in Marketing. I love being creative and working with various media, mostly gravitating toward digital, drawing, and painting. In my traditional works, I range from capturing the naturalness of life to more conceptual pieces. Further, my digital works focus on being visually engaging to target audiences by using composition, color, and hierarchy. Though my projects vary in mediums, they are all connected by a cohesive style and shared aesthetic. After I graduate, I plan to pursue a career in graphic design and continue to create things that I love."

REECE HARPER
"I am Reece Harper, graduating with a BFA and a concentration in Graphic Design, and my work centers on creating visually striking designs that capture attention and communicate clearly through strong visual hierarchy. The pieces in this collection developed during my time at Indiana State University and through work with the university’s athletic department, span a wide range of projects, from full brand development on a 50-page magazine to redesigned album covers, tour posters, minimalist movie posters, and brand
advertisements. Across all of these works, the focus is on standing out, engaging the viewer, and combining solid design principles with a sense of energy and excitement."

That is the final list of graduates! 🎓 Good luck, artists, & we hope you have an amazing journey! 👏

05/25/2026

Our 2026 Art Education Exhibiton Seniors! Meet Xavier Wills and Jaecy Nelson 🌟

XAVIER WILLS
My name is Xavier Wills, and I am pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education with a minor in Studio Art. My work primarily focuses on tattoo art, which is also showcased in this gallery. I am deeply passionate about body art and love creating meaningful, permanent designs that people carry with them. Through tattooing, I aim to bring each person’s ideas to life while incorporating my own artistic style.

For me, tattooing is more than just art, it’s a form of storytelling and personal expression. My artist statement centers on the idea that art should be meaningful and lasting. Tattooing allows me to create work that becomes part of someone’s identity. After student teaching, I intend to work in a tattoo shop and continue building my skills and reputation.

JAECY NELSON
My name is Jaecy Lynn Nelson, and I am pursuing a bachelor's degree in Art Education. My work explores themes of identity, growth, emotion, and personal relationships. Through drawing, painting, and mixed media, I use symbolism, color, and composition to reflect change over time and the process of self-discovery. Many of my pieces focus on the idea that growth is not always linear.

My artist statement centers around the belief that art can be both personal and universal. While my work is rooted in my own experiences, I hope viewers can connect it to their own journeys of healing, growth, and identity. After graduation, I plan to pursue a career in education where I can teach art and help students build confidence through creativity.

05/24/2026

Our 2026 BFA Exhibiton Seniors! Meet Casey Chisham, Elise Persinger, and Elizabeth Hayes 🌟

CASEY CHISHAM
My name is Casey Chisham, and I am pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Graphic Design. My work is heavily inspired by motorsports and racing culture, focusing on bold, high-energy visuals that capture speed, motion, and identity. My artist statement centers on expressing the intensity and personality behind racing through strong visual identity, using design to communicate energy, passion, and purpose both on and off the track. After graduating, I plan to continue building my career in graphic design while expanding my business, CC Dez1gnz, with the goal of working within the racing industry, traveling, building connections, and growing my work on a national level.

ELISE PERSINGER
My name is Elise Persinger, and I am graduating with a BFA with a graphic design concentration. I like to do photography and graphic design, and my work combines the two. I focus on detail and the interaction between text and visuals, often balancing minimal and complex elements. My artist statement emphasizes my focus on small details in both design and photography and how I intentionally build compositions. It also explains my interest in digital culture and how that shapes the look and feel of my work. In the near future, I would like to live on the East Coast and work as a designer in the music industry OR as a concert photographer.

ELISABETH HAYES
My name is Elisabeth Hayes, and I’m working toward a BFA with a concentration in Graphic
Design. My work is all about clear communication and visual storytelling. I like using typography, color, and layout to make designs that are easy to understand but still interesting to look at. I often add illustration to my work to give it more personality and make it feel more approachable. I try to keep a balance between making something look good and making sure it actually works and gets the message across. My artist statement
is really about design as a way to solve problems. After graduating, I’m open to whatever creative opportunities come my way, working in a studio, office, or freelancing, and continuing to grow.

05/23/2026

05/23/2026

Our 2026 BFA Exhibiton Seniors! Grace Hughes, Emma Stanczak, and Ethan Shoemaker 🌟

GRACE HUGHES
"Hello, my name is Grace Hughes and my major is (BFA) fine arts. My art plays into
surrealism at times. Its figurative since people are my favorite subject matter. My art
occasionally highlights my love for weird or uncomfortable imagery. The other half is
usually sentimental. All my work in the show contains these elements. My statement
revolves around the concept of coming of age and representing experiences in unnatural
ways through surrealism."

EMMA STANCZAK
"My name is Emma Stanczak, and I am graduating with a BFA concentrating in Graphic
Design. I am a designer who also enjoys photography, screen-printing, drawing, and more.
I take inspiration from many sources, especially nature and music. I love capturing small
moments from my life, which often translates into work centered on what I’m passionate
about or what I love. I want to make the world a more beautiful place through my art and
design, and I hope my work can inspire and educate others.
Instagram: .designs (Other account)

05/20/2026

Our 2026 BA Exhibiton Seniors! Meet Robin Lane, Ariana Lingard, Austin Ward, and Jacqueline Rodriguez 🌟

Robin Lane
"I am Robin Lane, a student finishing up a Bachelor of Arts at Indiana State University. As mentioned in the artwork statement for my series Rot, my work is made to connect viewers with my life experiences and expose them to their empathetic nature as they relate. Art came into my life as an uninterrupted way in which I could process my emotions. I continue to create art that encourages its viewers to relate to its stories and find their own emotions within that process. In the future, I plan to open my own art related business, enter my work into more shows, and expand my artworks reach to more people."

Ariana Lingard
"Hello! My name is Ariana Lingard. I am pursuing a Bachelor of Art with a focus in graphic design. I’m a graphic designer focused on minimal, concept-driven visual communication across advertising and digital media. My work uses simplified layouts, limited color palettes, and direct typography to create clear, impactful designs. The body of work I chose for the senior exhibition features pieces from three series: The Essentials, Clinique Simplified, and The Despicable Series, all centered on reducing excess detail to strengthen messaging and visual identity. After graduation, I am moving to Bloomington Indiana for a couple years and I plan to begin a career in the digital marketing field."

05/18/2026

Our 2026 BFA/BA Exhibiton Seniors! Meet Karen Yang and Izzy Elmore 🌟

Izzy is graduating with a BA, with their main focus being Drawing

Karen is graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design

05/15/2026

Our 2026 BA Exhibiton Seniors! Meet Mahal Wright, Tiff Solorzano, Hannah Jackson, and Janiya Bowman 🌟

MAHAL WRIGHT
“Mahal Wright is a visual artist working and living in his hometown of Terre Haute, IN and is about to receive a Bachelor of Arts and English from Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN. He has exhibited locally in numerous galleries and has won many awards.
Wright’s work explores anthropomorphism and abjection through colored pencil drawings,
relief and silkscreen prints, and digital art. Each work uses organic, symbolic, and intimate
imagery to convey sexual counterculture and historical art movements such as Arts &
Crafts, Art Nouveau, Surrealism, and the Medieval.
Wright has exhibited in the STARS (Summer Term Art Research Scholarship) at the Turman
Gallery located at Indiana State and has been the recipient of the Best Undergraduate Award Scholarship in 2024 and the Provost's Merit Award Scholarship in 2026. Most recently, Wright exhibited his series "Lycanthropic Lifecycle” which emphasizes the be***al in the cyclical in the BFA/BA Senior exhibition held in the Yang Family University Art Gallery at Indiana State.”

HANNAH JACKSON
"My name is Hannah Jackson, and I have an art BA at Indiana State University. My art
focuses on fantasy themes and storytelling. I plan on getting a job where I can be artistic
and work with others."

JANIYA BOWMAN
"My name is Janiya Bowman, and I’m graduating with my BA in Art from Indiana State
University. My work focuses on clean, simple design and visuals that are easy to understand. I like using minimal layouts, clear spacing, and intentional colors to get a message across without doing too much.
In my art, I try to make things look modern and organized while still feeling relatable. My artist statement is basically about keeping things clear, purposeful, and not overcrowded. I want every part of a design to have a reason for being there.
After graduation, I plan to keep building my portfolio and look for opportunities in branding,
marketing, and visual design. I’m excited to keep learning and growing as an artist."

05/13/2026

Here is a deeper look into Theo Harding and their internship at the Swope Art Museum!

"My name is Theo Harding, and I’m a Collections Intern at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute! My experience started when one of the art professors, Nancy Nichols-Pethick, reached out to me about doing an internship with the Swope while they were closed for renovations. I knew immediately that this was something I wanted to do, so, with her help, I got to work on the logistics. My first day working was January 20th, 2026, and I’ll continue my internship until the end of the semester!

I do a little bit of everything at the museum, and, most recently, I’ve been assisting with the 59th Annual Student Art Exhibition. I’ve been receiving artwork, arranging galleries, and doing some ever-important cleaning, among other tasks. My favorite project I’ve helped with is the relocation of the Permanent Art Collection! As the
Swope has been undergoing renovations, a new storage area was created for the artwork. Since it was finished, the whole staff has been part of the moving process! It’s awe inspiring to see the scope of the collection, along with all of the beautiful pieces and history it contains. Despite being a little hectic at times, I’m entirely grateful for the knowledge, skills, and experiences this process gave me.

Museum work is the field I have my sights set on, and my time as a Collections Intern has given me invaluable art museum experience. Before this, I’d never worked in any type of museum and had little practical knowledge of their behind-the-scenes
functions. Getting to experience real projects, exhibitions, and even slightly tedious paperwork has made me more confident in and better prepared for my future career."