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Wabash College celebrated the opening of the 2019 Senior Art Majors Exhibition, featuring the work of Nicholas Buening, Griffin Hall, Austin Nightingale, and David Thomas. The exhibit runs from April 19-May 12 in the Fine Arts Center's Eric Dean Gallery.

Austin Nightingale '19 smiles while looking over one of his works, 'Lick Me.' Of opening night, he said, 'It’s nerve wracking, it’s exciting. I think I’m more excited every time someone comes by the pieces and they are smiling or laughing. It makes me happy to see someone appreciate the work that I’m making.'

David Thomas '19 enjoys a light moment at Friday's opening. While thinking of sharing his work with the Wabash community, he said, 'It’s wonderful. It makes me feel like I’m giving something that serves some sort of use or purpose to the greater fabric of society, rather than just myself. Part of art is creating something for others to insert themselves into, to explore, and to think about. That’s really why I wanted to make these pieces in the way that I did. I wanted people to think, and think contextually of themselves, and to think about the nature of progress and the existential elephant in the room, all those kinds of things.'

(from left) Hayley Blonsley, Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse Program Associate, and Marc Welch, Associate Dean of Students, share thoughts about a work on display.

Two perspectives of the same students viewing one of Thomas' works.

Assistant Professor of Art Matt Weedman (left) and Professor of Theater Michael Abbott talk of the creative process.

Visiting Associate Professor of Theater Heidi Winters Vogel smiles at the spectacle of opening night.

There is plenty to ponder in the Eric Dean Gallery.

The Senior Art Majors exhibition provides plenty of conversation starters.

Just a year ago, Dominick Rivers' work occupied these same walls. The Class of 2018 member shares a moment with Abbott (right).

Griffin Hall '19 surveys the room during the opening. His artist statement says, 'Referencing old fashioned popup books and puppet shows allows me to create an environment to take people on an adventure. Switching from one scene to the next allows me to narratively turn a page and change the perspective and possibly the meaning of each piece.'

Elizabeth Morton, Associate Professor of Art (left), converses with Assistant Professor of Art Damon Mohl (right), and his wife, Jessica.

The art proved inspirational for Lucy Weedman.

Lucas Esparza '19 enjoyed the exhibition.

The Haesemeyer Brothers, Wade '22 (left) and Paul '21, made an Opening Night appearance.

Nicholas Buening '19 found a great deal of enjoyment during the opening. When asked about the time invested in the process to get to this day, he said, 'Whether it was sitting there and thinking about it or trying to work through a problem in multiple ways, I could tell you that I spent 10 hours alone trying to nail the first one together (laughs). A lot of the little things that you don’t think will take as long – like setting it and putting it together – they take a lot longer than you think it will, especially when you are nit-picky, and a perfectionist, and you have to go to another layer of paint. It’s frustrating…sometimes working with a kiln is hard. I’m pretty pleased.'

Hall said through his artist statement, 'My love for tabletop role playing games and fantasy drives my work. Creative storytelling blossoms within these games and leaves the people who play them a story to tell. Working with digital media I aim to visually share the stories that I've already played out in my head.'

Here, Weedman (right) chats with Professor of Religion David Blix '70.

Thomas (seen here with Steve Hoffman '85, Director of Alumni and Parent Relations) will go into sales following graduation. He plans to continue creating, saying, 'I’m building a shed in my fiancee’s grandmother’s backyard, and with whatever money I make from these pieces, I’m going to buy more paint so I can continue painting. I have many ideas in my mind and the things I want to talk about. I just want to make more stuff with whatever I’m able to acquire from a paycheck or the money I might make from this.'

Opening Night also gave Buening a chance to reflect on what it means for him to share his work with others. He said, 'It means a lot to have my name on the wall like so many seniors before. Walking in here when I was a sophomore, I was amazed. To be here now might inspire someone else to go after it – because my path certainly isn’t anything that Wabash would advertise – to inspire someone in the future to do something different is what I hope to do. I was an econ major and I didn’t want to become an economist. I’ve always liked design, fashion in particular, and art was the avenue to closely guide me to that, so that’s the route I took.'

Nightingale displayed a diversity of materials in his works. He said, 'I’ve always been a very imaginative guy, always creating my own kind of experiences when I was younger. Art was always my thing. I always loved painting. I was a sculptor in junior high and high school. I really always loved art. The materials are more of what drive my ideas, the egg shells, the hair, the gum, or the condoms. You don’t tend to think of those materials as being beautiful, so that’s kind of my forte. I go and try to get these un-beautiful materials and make them into something beautiful so the audience experiences something new.'

There was plenty of conversation near Thomas' creation entitled, 'Stairs.'

There is plenty to take in at the Senior Art Majors exhibition...a total of 17 works in all.

Two attendees view Nightingale's work, one the artist estimated was created by at least 1,000 chewed pieces of gum.