Art and Design Commons^™

Uncovering The Story Of Sally Maria Johnson: Revealing The History Of The Portrait Of A Painting, Yuanzhen Song

Art Conservation Master's Projects

Portrait of Sally Maria Johnson by the artist James Johnson is a 19^th century oval shaped portrait in the collection of the Buffalo History Museum.  It suffered from structural damages and paint loss resulting from surface alterations and previous restoration campaigns.  This study combines art historical research with scientific analysis to explore both the biography of the subject and the materiality of the painting.  Through local research including historical newspaper articles in Buffalo, the story of Sally Maria Johnson (the wife of Buffalo’s first mayor) was uncovered.  High-resolution imaging techniques were used to document the surface condition and identify …

Shadow Garments: Costume Creation For Integrating Alienated Parts Of The Self, Mega M. Galvin

Art Therapy | Master's Theses

This study explores costume creation as a narrative-based intervention for integrating "shadow" parts, or aspects of the self that are repressed or alienated due to shame, trauma, or social pressure. Grounded in Jungian analytic psychology, narrative therapy, and expressive arts theory, the research addresses the limitations of traditional talk therapy in accessing somatic memory and proposes costume making as a pathway for externalization and re-authorship. Using a qualitative, participatory study inspired by Pat B. Allen’s Open Studio Process, four adult participants engaged in a three-session workshop to design, construct, and wear costumes representing their identified shadow aspects. Data was collected …

Beetle Panic!, Ross Lowrance

Game Design

Beetle Panic! is a 3D game designed in GDevelop that combines exploration, collectible-based scoring, time management, and enemy avoidance in a compact, interactive level. Players navigate the environment to collect four coins, each worth 25 points, while managing a 60-second timer and avoiding a pursuing enemy known as the Beetle Bot. Environmental objects, including movable blocks, provide opportunities for tactical interaction by obstructing the enemy's movement. Contact with the enemy resets the scene, adding risk to the player's efforts to complete the objective before time expires.

The game incorporates a scoring system, countdown timer, audio feedback, and end-state messaging to …

Marbs & Carbs, Kevin M. Mcghee

Game Design

Marbs & Carbs is a 3D rolling game set in an oversized kitchen. Guide Marb across countertops, past stove burners, and through sink-side shortcuts while collecting pasta and donuts that make the marble grow. Larger sizes open new routes, including a breakable sink drain. Collect at least 25 carbs to enter the mouse hole and finish the level. Special pasta can turn Marb into a tumbling cube or pyramid, changing how it moves and adding a score bonus. A results screen tallies your pickups and time before the next run.

This game is inspired by the classic Atari arcade game …

Art Inquiries, Vol. 21, Oct. 15, 2026 - Full Issue, Kris K. Belden-Adams

Art Inquiries

No abstract provided.

Illuminating Perspectives Through Critical Visual Literacy, Wanju Huang, Filipa Machado Rodrigues, Lee Okan, Catalina Huilcapi-Collantes, Ellen Corrigan, Peter Klubek

Purdue University Press Books

Illuminating Perspectives Through Critical Visual Literacy exemplifies the initiatives put forth by the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA), a diverse community of professionals dedicated to enhancing people’s understanding of how to interpret visual stimuli and engage with their visual surroundings. Featuring peer-reviewed essays that encourage ongoing dialogue among diverse groups, this book intends to spark new insights into everything from the arts and sciences to business and instructional technology. A key strength of IVLA is its variety of scholarly conferences and publications that encourage thought-provoking interaction between practitioners and theorists. Illuminating Perspectives Through Critical Visual Literacy showcases insightful works that …

Fairytale Bounce, Caroline Sexton

Game Design

This project is a 3D fairy-themed platformer created in Unity. Players control a fairy as they travel through a colorful fantasy environment filled with floating platforms, magical mushrooms, collectibles, and enemies. The goal is to navigate through the level, collect fairy dust crystals, avoid enemies, and reach the end. The game includes a health system, checkpoints, background music, and sound effects.

This game was created as my final project for a 3D game development course. I focused on creating a playable level with different platforming challenges while learning more about Unity, 3D level design, scripting, and gameplay mechanics.

The Quilt On The Roof, Janny G. Santos

Persimmon Creek

This creative nonfiction essay explores the meaning of home, stewardship, and healing through the story of a veteran who restored a neglected house on a hill in Greenville County, South Carolina. Built in the 1950s by another veteran on land once belonging to the Perry family, the home becomes a place of repair for both the structure and the person caring for it. When the roof fails after years of restoration, the author creates a massive quilt to protect the house, transforming scraps of fabric into a signal of distress and resilience. The essay reflects on land, memory, family, and …

Fiesta Of Flowers, Blanca L. Ortega Moreno

Persimmon Creek

Celebrating the Latino & Hispanic community by creating a piece reflecting traditional woven shirts from Oaxaca & the Mexican culture. This piece is handmade to reflect the vibrant colors found in Mexican culture.

This piece was included in an art show that ran from October 12th to November 4th representing Hispanic Heritage Month. It was displayed at the City of Greer Center for the Arts.

Instalasi Sebagai Ruang Traumatis: Estetika Partisipatoris Dan Pengalaman Fenomenologis Dalam Karya Jompet Kuswidananto, Muhammad Majid Amanulloh Kusmadi, A. Syaifuddin Rohman

Journal of Language, Literature, and Arts

This study examines Jompet Kuswidananto’s installation artworks as spaces that represent traumatic memory through bodily engagement and audience participation. The study employs a descriptive qualitative approach informed by Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology and Claire Bishop’s perspective on participatory aesthetics. Data were collected through interviews with the artist and participants and through document analysis. The analysis focuses on two works, On Paradise #2 and Subterranean Thunder #1, selected for their relevance to traumatic memory, aesthetic experience, and audience participation. The findings show that both works construct experiences through relationships among objects, space, sound, light, and the audience’s body. Merleau-Ponty’s perspective demonstrates …

Ornamental Letters In J.R.R. Tolkien's Manuscripts, Eduardo Boheme Kumamoto

Journal of Tolkien Research

The purpose of this article is to examine ornamental letters and decoration that in some way interacts with letterforms in J.R.R. Tolkien’s manuscripts. I explore Tolkien’s use of elements such as double strokes, color, dots, and flourishes to add prominence and beauty to the letterforms; where possible I also try to establish a relation between these ornaments and medieval manuscripts.

Strategies Of A Personal Nature, Georgia Kirkendall

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

To My Future Daughter, Amelia Do

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Caretaker, Bethany N. Shifflett

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

So Long Sugar, Ava Prickman

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Looking At You, Alexander E. Hanley

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Ode To My Metal Spine, Cassidy Haines

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

On Grief, Chloe N. Colbaugh

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

A Dollar's Worth, Cassidy Haines

The Mercury

No abstract provided.

Dear Man, Terra Hobler

The Mercury

No abstract provided.