Art and Design Commons^™

Ai Art: Artists’ Best Friend Or Mortal Enemy?, Ethan Gabrys

Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research

This paper analyzes the impacts and implications of generative AI software on art and examines the ethics of using such tools. Through the argument that careless use of these tools presents a danger to the art world as they risk devaluing human expression, Gabrys states that “as what it means to be human changes with each generation, new artists express sentiment through their art. Art has the ability to tell us about the human experience.” He concludes that the use of AI tools takes the skill and sentiment of human artists out of the equation, begging the question: if the …

Saga Vol.85 / 2021-2022, Sarah Luepkes, Blake Traylor

SAGA Art & Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Saga Vol.84 / 2020-2021, Megan Hoppe, Sarah Luepkes

SAGA Art & Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Last Prisoners Of War: How Nazi-Looted Art Is Displayed In U.S. Museums, Monica May Thompson

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

How art museums approach NLA is important today because much of the public relies on museums for their education. NLA cases are especially controversial because they are not only legal battles, but ethical ones so museums have to be extra careful approaching them. Even if the museum has won the legal battle the public may not see them as winning the ethical one therefore they might want to avoid displaying this information to the public. However, as we can see with the previous websites, it actually looks worse for museums not to be open and honest about their NLA pieces …

Saga Vol. 82 / 2018-2019, Melissa Conway, Stephanie Tillman

SAGA Art & Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Material Conversations, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2017-2018

This exhibition focuses on recent work by the studio and graphic design faculty at Augustana College. Their practice is as varied as their media - from conceptual to process-based - and belies the breadth of teaching embodied by the art faculty. The varied approaches to art-making is a strength of the program, and provides for our students a multiplicity of perspectives from which to approach their own learning about theoria (thinking), poiesis (making), and praxis (doing).

This exhibition includes works by:

Kelvin Mason, Vickie R. Phipps. Megan Quinn, Trew Schriefer, Rowen Schussheim-Anderson, Corrine Smith, Ronda Wright-Phipps, Peter Tong Xiao

2018 Senior Art Exhibition, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2017-2018

This exhibition features the Senior Inquiry projects of the Class of 2018 graphic design and studio art majors:

Bailey Driscoll, Brianna Jepson, Brock McNinch, Christine Marchi, Comet Blecha, Grace Iaquinta, Kate Schreader, Madalynne Russell, Rebecca Kelly, William Lawrence

Photos courtesy of Ashleigh Johnston and Claire Kovacs.

Saga Vol. 81 / 2017-2018, Alina Lundholm, Michele Hill, Melissa Conway

SAGA Art & Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Organize Your Own: The Politics And Poetics Of Self-Determination Movements, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2017-2018

Organize Your Own, curated by Daniel Tucker, features work by contemporary artists that responds to the history of multiracial coalitions organizing against racism, poverty, and oppression. The ATMA was the first stop on OYO's six-leg tour between 2017-2019. For this travelling exhibition, my work focused on two areas: providing more framework in the reading area around the Young Lords, and organizing programming that was specific to our venue.

#Yarnbombqc, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2017-2018

#YarnBombQC brought the sculptor Carol Hummel the the Quad Cities to work with our communities to create crocheted, site-specific, community-based public art on trees in three locations: Augustana College, the Figge Art Museum, and Longfellow Liberal Arts School. This project, like much of the art by Hummel, draws diverse sectors of communities together in a positive, celebratory way to help create major pieces of art for the people, by the people. Well over 100 community members participated by creating crocheted circles, which the artist and her assistants stitched together and installed on the trees. Participants included students from Augustana College, …

4 Artists, 4 Visions, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2016-2017

An exhibition of four artists invited by members of the Augustana Art Department: Oscar Jay Gillespie, Claire Hedden, Tom Lundberg, and Joseph Patrick.

Photos courtesy of the Augustana Photo Bureau

2017 Senior Art Exhibition, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2016-2017

This exhibition features the Senior Inquiry projects of the Augustana College studio art and graphic design majors of the Class of 2017:

Jorge Ambriz, Paris Edwards, Chloe Gale, Giselle Gaztambide, Emily Kathleen Grooms, Ginger Hamilton, Olivia Havens, McKee Jackson, Emily Johnson, Jordan Peklo, Henry Roderick, Glen Williamson

Saga Vol. 80 / 2016-2017, Alyssa Froehling, Elena Leith, Emma Smith

SAGA Art & Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Witness, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2017-2018

What does it mean to bear witness?

How does this idea manifest itself in the visual arts?

From tourism to war to social critique, at the local, regional, national, or international level, the concept of bearing witness through the arts provides a means by which one can better understand a place, an issue, or a person. It can undermine the powerful, or serve as a tool of propaganda. It can retell the stories that we have heard before, or make space for new voices and new stories.

Visual works, such as the photograph on the right, can play a vital …

Herbarium Tales, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2017-2018

Herbarium Tales features scientific specimens of the herbarium of Augustana, and invites the visitor to explore the intersections between the study of plant biodiversity, art, and the history of the College.

Battle/Dress: Camouflage As A Metaphor For Passing And Other Works By Kiam Marcelo Junio, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2016-2017

Kiam Marcelo Junio (preferred gender pronoun: "they/their/them”) is a Chicago-based visual and performance artist. Their research and art work center around queer identity, Philippine history and the Filipino diaspora, American imperialism, and personal and collective healing through collaborative work and individual WERQ. Kiam served seven years in the US Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. They were born in the Philippines, and have lived in the U.S., Japan, and Spain.

#QueeringCamouflage

"Camouflage as a Metaphor for Passing is a body of work that articulates the specific intersections of my identities as a queer, Filipino American immigrant, and US Navy veteran. I …

A Woman's Place Is In The Gallery : Guerrilla Girls, 1985-2015, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2016-2017

This exhibition celebrates 30 years of Women & Gender Studies at Augustana College through a celebration of 30+ years of Guerrilla Girls' actions, reminding us of the role that art can take in protest, activism and conversation around issues of gender, racial and economic justice. It featured works from Augustana Teaching Museum of Art's recent purchase of the Guerrilla Girls' Portfolio Compleat, as well as archival materials from Augustana's Special Collections on the Women & Gender Studies program.

This exhibition was curated with Sami Turner, a student at Western Illinois University's Museum Studies Program. Ms. Turner and I worked to …

The Excitement Of Life, Jacob D. Soukup

Celebration of Learning

These recent paintings explore the presence of excitement, energy and adrenaline rush one can capture in a moment. Oil paints have a quality that can make a painting come to life. This lifelike quality is exactly what I strive to capture in a way that allows the viewers to put themselves inside the painting. The inspiration for these paintings came from my own experiences of adventure and risk-taking. The use of foreshortening and distortion helps give the figures a sense of energy and create movement throughout the composition. By portraying the various situations through a warped lens, I believe that …

New Departures 2016 : Senior Studio Art + Graphic Design Exhibition, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2015-2016

2016 Senior Studio Art + Graphic Design Exhibition featuring works by Lauren Becker, TJ Clifford, Sydney Crumbleholme, Nathan Gray, Tyler James, Bailey Kerschieter, Katie Knauft, Ryen Merhar, Holly Scholl, and Jacob Soukup.

Plantbot Genetics Presents: The Moth Project, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2015-2016

PlantBot Genetics Inc. presents an engaging overview of second shift pollinators such as the moth, along with recent advances in self-pollinating robo-plants. The Moth Project highlights inspired responses to the decline of the honeybee and the hope that Moths and PlantBots will step in and save the day.

As consumers, we no longer know the real price of our food. Present food distribution systems are so complicated that it is unrealistic to expect consumers will make responsible choices based on the knowledge at hand. We encourage people to think more about their food, where it comes from, and where it …

Saga Vol. 79 / 2015-2016, Alyssa Froehling, Elena Leith

SAGA Art & Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Guerrilla Girls At Augustana, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2016-2017

Guerrilla Girls at Augustana

Art Above 66° 33', Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2016-2017

66˚ 33' is the latitude of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, and this exhibition considers these geographic areas as inspiration for the visual arts. In addition, it utilizes the visual arts as a mode by which to encourage viewers to more deeply engage with the planet’s most northerly and southerly regions. It considers the issues, history and environment of the regions, spanning media, process and subject – from the figural to the abstract, tactile to sound, analog to digital.

This exhibition was a collaboration with the Augustana Center for Polar Studies.

#ArtAbove66

ARTISTS: Michael Bartalos, Cape Dorset Prints from the …

What A Relief! Variations On Printmaking, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2015-2016

What (is) a Relief?

Relief printmaking was the first printmaking process invented, and has its origins in seals in China around 255 BCE. At its most basic, one can think of a stamp as a relief print. The artist uses tools to cut away portions of the matrix (a wood block, linoleum sheet, Styrofoam, etc.), leaving behind a raised image area, which is then printed on a substrate (paper, fabric, etc.). To this day, relief printmaking is still the most accessible form of printmaking because a press is not required to make a print – just the matrix, ink, pressure …

A Flight For Hope, Emma Levich

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

The purpose of this piece was to specifically commemorate the children that were victims of the Holocaust. The butterfly is the international symbol for hope, renewal of life, innocence, and beauty, and so I wanted to create something that captured the spirit and souls of all the children that never had a chance to spread their own beautiful wings and fly away from their terrible fate. The horrible crimes and the overall darkest period in history the children had to suffer through is represented by the big dark butterfly in the corner, dressed with gruesome images of what they were …

The Art Of Censorship, Mark Sieber

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

This work seeks to show a similarity between censorship of Art in Nazi Germany and the censorship of John Adam’s The Death of Klinghoffer. By analyzing historical facts surrounding Nazi policy and comparing them against criticisms of Klinghoffer, a connection is found. Censoring a work of art, regardless of its message, is detrimental not only to the art itself, but also to the culture, voice, and ideas it represents.

Continued Remembrance, Abbigail Mehnert

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

I always found great interest in learning about the Holocaust and how it has affected society even to this day. Through my winter LSFY course “Ashes to Immortality” I got the opportunity to discover a greater empathy for those who suffered, lost their lives, and survived this historic event. I wanted to insure that my piece represented the importance of passing on experiences and knowledge of the Holocaust in hopes that a similar event will never happen again. In my piece, I painted the entrance of Auschwitz converted in red splatters to represent the lives lost. The concentration camp is …

A Place Called Home: Frank Lundahl And The Quad Cities, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

2015-2016

Frank Lundahl (1858-1932) was a Swedish-American artist born in Rock Island. A painter of interior murals by trade, his works in Augustana’s collections focus on the world around him, calling our attention to the everyday beauty of our region, this place we call home.