Aaron Burns | Graphics Co-Editor

The art gallery at Buena Vista University (BVU) has been occupied for the past week with the senior exhibitions of three graphic design seniors: Makensie Brown, Tingleska Hallum, and Paige Miller. These designers worked diligently all year long to create a themed exhibition to showcase what they have learned in their time at BVU.

Soul Strings by Makensie Brown

Makensie Brown, senior Graphic Design and Spanish double major, received inspiration for her show from her journeys abroad in Spain, Nepal, and Haiti. The theme of Brown’s show is culture, which was derived from the individuals she met in each location. Brown wanted to tell the stories of these individuals through photography and capture how it relates to the cultures they identify with.

As for putting her exhibition together, Brown experienced minor details that she did not consider when creating a gallery show. From learning to tie the correct knots in fishing line to maneuvering the adjustable ladder, she realized how much work a gallery show can be.

“A lot of work goes into the actual installation,” Brown said. “It was very rewarding to do that, and it will help me appreciate other gallery installations that I will see in the future.”

Brown believes that her show successfully identifies who she is and what she wants to do with her photography. It shows her stylistic approach and how she wants to contribute to the greater effort of humanitarian photography.

“I’m just really proud of the work I’ve put together. It summarizes the whole time and how I’ve grown here at BVU,” Brown said.

Fill Your Life by Tingleska Hallum

Tingleska “Fawn” Hallum, senior Graphic Design major, created a mock company titled Fill Your Life. The inspiration for the company mostly came from Hallum’s own experiences of adventure. Last summer, Hallum moved to Colorado on a last minute decision. Likewise, the summer before, she and friends decided to drive to and camp in the Badlands in South Dakota on a whim. Hallum has always been a travel enthusiast.

Fill Your Life is meant to inspire people to do what they want with their life without thinking about the consequences too much. Hallum wanted to inspire her audience to have the same mindset where they don’t overanalyze situations. She wants to give her audience the push of motivation to do something risky and spontaneous.

“Doing something spontaneous, traveling, and having fun adds so much more meaning to your life, and it gives you so many more memories,” Hallum said. “It makes you more happy in general.”

One unexpected obstacle that Hallum found about senior exhibitions is the time and effort put into each detail. An inspirational handmade notebook took her six hours to complete. Aside from the physical difficulties, she said that impressing the advisers was most challenging.

The most successful element to Hallum’s show, in her eyes, is the fact that people loved it so much that they wanted to buy the actual products. She was also satisfied with the cohesiveness of her final products.

Fantasy Cosmetics by Paige Miller

Paige Miller, senior Graphic Design major, used her exhibition to fulfill obtaining her dream job. She wants to work for a make-up company, which is where the title Fantasy Cosmetics came from. Miller considers herself a make-up guru, so she found pleasure in creating her own cosmetics line. She also wanted to fulfill her “younger, unrealistic” dream of being a model, which is why she used herself to display the products in advertising.

“It’s fun pretending you’re a glamorous model for a make-up company even though it is fake,” Miller said.

Miller found that actually installing the show was the biggest obstacle. She is self-proclaimed as not very savvy with tools, but she did get help. She said that she knew what she wanted her show to look like, but actually getting everything set up correctly and hung straight was the biggest challenge she faced.

Despite the difficulties, Miller says that the arrangement of her show is what is most successful.

“I didn’t think it was going to turn out as well as it did. It was the hardest part for me, so to see it come to life felt great,” Miller said.

The art gallery will be featuring Soul Strings, Fill Your Life, and Fantasy Cosmetics until Thursday, April 17 at 5:00 p.m.