Senior Art Show 2025

Izzy Blanford is a senior from Moline, Ill., majoring in graphic design and film.

"In a manner similar to how I pick up hobbies, the way I create my pieces ranges from a plethora of different mediums. From buttery oil paintings to scratchy iPad doodles, my pieces revolve around the purpose of sparking a placebo of when someone remembers a movie they watched as a kid or smells a scent that transports them to their childhood home."

Gray Cunnar is a senior from Batavia, Ill., majoring in art and biology.

"Most of my late childhood and teenage years were spent grappling with my ideas of mortality. I felt like a heavy weight to myself and those around me. My mind often wandered to how to best make my effect on others as fleeting as possible. I didn’t want to be a burden. And it felt like everything I did was a burden. Who Will You Remember When I’m Finally Dead and Gone…? is a reflection of this point in my life."

Lanie DaSilva is a senior from Glenview, Ill., majoring in psychology and art.

TW: OCD "My SI focuses on my brother's compulsions. Growing up, my brother was my biggest role model. I looked up to him in many ways, and we are very close to this day. My brother has struggled with OCD since he was young. Denying medications, he chose to live his life the way he believed he was meant to. I've seen how this has negatively affected him and the people close to him in his own life. I want my SI to focus on this perspective of OCD."

Abby DeGustino is a senior from Lake Zurich, Ill., majoring in psychology and art.

"My work consists of paintings that are personal to my life. I am attempting to understand the inner world of someone who experiences an intricate and often devastating cycle of psychosis. This attempt to understand stems from my journey to connect with a close relative affected by this condition."

Grace Finney is a senior from Moline, Ill., majoring in business administration-finance, accounting and art history.

"For my senior inquiry project, I am exploring the connection between Swedish immigrant artists and the American Regionalist movement. From the mid 19th to early 20th century, over a million Swedes immigrated to the United States, particularly to the Midwest, where they formed tight communities that supported later arrivals."

Rae Gibson is a senior from DeWitt, Iowa, majoring in art history and graphic design and minoring in philosophy and art.

"As the current political climate reigns down a plethora of changes - specifically the cutting and removing of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) departments or efforts from certain museums - I find myself more and more worried about how artists, museum visitors, and museum professionals that don’t fit into stereotypical moulds of identity will find a place to be heard."

Emma Hogren is a senior from Port Byron, Ill., majoring in art history and biology and minoring in philosophy.

"Utilizing my experiences in these exhibitions, my experience in funeral service, and pre-existing literature on the display of human remains, I will be comparing and contrasting ways that museums should go about displaying funerary art. My goal is to start conversations around the nature of museum displays and how museum displays can dictate the way museum-goers interact with art."

Brady Holtz is a senior from Hampshire, Ill., majoring in graphic design.

"As an artist, sports are a way for me to blow off steam or clear my mind. I find it very easy to create art related to or inspired by sports, so it was a no-brainer when I was deciding what to focus on for my project. Golf, a sport deeply rooted in tradition, offers a unique challenge for me as a designer."

Anna Lindenberg is a senior from Olathe, Kan., majoring in art history and studio art and minoring in French.

"Primarily, I am a pencil or painting artist and when I began my Senior Inquiry, I thought that those mediums were going to be what I created with. But as I brainstormed, as I considered different ideas for my project, this project here is the one that excited me the most. I realized later that it was because while this is not my typical artistic medium, it best represents my current interests."

Norika Maeda is a senior from Tokyo, Japan, majoring in art and psychology.

"While I spent time studying in Rock Island, I also visited outside of Illinois on a break. I vividly remember the aesthetic of New York, Los Angeles, and Paris. As I travelled, I experienced so much hardships and frustration, but discovered so many new worlds other than my foundation as a Japanese. When I remember those things, all of the memories are beautiful."

Heather Michalski is a senior from North Aurora, Ill., majoring in biology and studio art.

"My work delves into the complex realities of mental health through visceral imagery that transcends verbal explanation. Each piece serves as a manifestation of feelings that often defy language—experiences that must be felt to be understood."

Mackenzie Monroy is a senior from Geneva, Ill., majoring in graphic design and minoring in Asian studies.

"This project was partly inspired by the movie Inside Out and taking that concept with a darker more comedical twist in the form of retail/business. Each emotion that you walk through will have a different form of deliverance and have an everyday life style to it almost. Be confused because emotions are very complex even if you think you have them down - you don't."

Emily O'Brien is a senior from Peru, Ill., majoring in art history.

"My project will be centered around the lack of inclusion of female artists in the study of twentieth century Abstract Expressionism. I will be taking an intersectional feminist approach to my research. This lively artistic movement, which arose in the United States during the 1940’s and 1950’s, is often associated with innovativeness and progressiveness. However, it exemplifies the sexism and misogyny that was present in American culture during this time."

Jessica Ramirez is a senior from Chicago, Ill., majoring in graphic design.

"As an artist, I explore how melodies, rhythms, or lyrics could be expressed in art, exploring the deep relationship between music and visual art. Throughout my life, I’ve noticed that when I listen to music, I mostly focus on the instrumentals, but there are other songs that I can visualize. For me, music is more than just an auditory experience; it can create strong visuals that I use in my artwork."

Peyton Richard is a senior from South Elgin, Ill., majoring in psychology and art.

"As I started this project, I went through a process of trying to figure out what lights up my heart most. It took hours of reflecting and running through ideas to realize what makes me happiest has been in front of me my whole life. Therefore, I have created this project as a tribute to all of the things I love, like the people I am surrounded by, the places I have lived, and each little aspect in between."

Julie Tarling is a senior from Naperville, Ill., majoring in marketing and graphic design and minoring in accounting.

"Within a digitally framed medium, I push to give expressive form to the inner voices that emerge from the depths of mental illness. These works serve as both a voice to my personal journey of thoughts and feelings as well as the experiences of my loved ones who have faced mental health challenges."

India Torres is a senior from San Diego, Calif., majoring in studio art.

"As long as I can remember, I have loved the study of light in art. Everyone experiences light literally or emotionally when you feel happy or content. However, with most things there is an opposite to light. Shadows or dark emotions are often close behind. My work commonly displays aspects of stark contrast between dark and light, and I continue on this path with my Senior Inquiry."

Tyler Troesch is a senior from Chicago, Ill., majoring in graphic design and art.

"These designs are meant to be printed on t-shirts, as I strive to create the kind of graphic quality you would see on such media in my own work. As an artist one of my biggest struggles has always been creating work that I can genuinely feel proud of, but these pieces allowed me enough creative freedom to forget about that and simply create what I wanted to create."

Enrique Tuason is a senior from Plano, Ill., majoring in graphic design and communication studies.

"I have always loved the tangibility of things. I love the feeling of having something physical in my hands. I find I appreciate things more when they are right in front of me. This is why I love playing cards. Cards have always captivated me, whether they be trading cards or tarot cards. I have been collecting decks of cards for as long as I can remember. Every deck I have in my collection is unique and special to me."

Bella Wright is a senior from Rock Island, Ill., majoring in art history and minoring in studio art.

"A large portion of this paper will be dedicated to graffiti artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as other mixed media and artists. I am going to form a timeline using art to call attention to the deep rooted history of police brutality in America. I also want to include a personal aspect to this project, so I was considering interviewing members of my family about their experiences being a person of color in America."

Syd Yontez is a senior from Highland Park, Ill., majoring in fine arts, philosophy and graphic design.

"Lots of art is accompanied by cute n’ crude sets of words aimed to summarize meaning and purpose, a route ironically bypassing the real meat of the work itself. My intention, if an artist’s input should even be counted, is to invite, not to explain. Boredom, after all, like curiosity, only dances when there is nothing ready-made to satisfy it."