Art and Design Commons^™

Contending With Anxiety In The Elementary Art Classroom, Natalie Petrushonis

Art 895 Research Papers

The focus of this qualitative study is to explore how students are affected by anxiety in the art classroom. The major objective of this research is to explore methods and strategies to support students who suffer from anxiety to prevent it from negatively affecting their art education. The participants of this study will be elementary students within an art classroom who feel anxiety while engaging in artmaking. This case study research will provide insight into approaches that have been utilized to assist students with anxiety in art while observing the effectiveness of these methods with students in an elementary art …

The Art Of Dreaming: A Surrealist Approach To Dream Analysis, Shelby Wright

Honors Thesis

Over the past two years, I created a series of paintings to explore the meaning of my nightmares. This study analyzes the themes and symbols in these dreams through the psychological frameworks of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Freud’s causal approach focuses on repressed desires, while Jung’s method relies on mythological symbols and archetypes in the collective unconscious. Drawing on the ideas of André Breton and the Surrealist movement, I examine how art can bridge dreams and waking life. By painting my dreams, I aim to better understand my unconscious and invite viewers to question their perception of reality. This …

Juntos, Tori N. Saenz

Honors Theses

Juntos is a sculptural exploration of interconnectedness and dependence between people. Throughout my life and travels around the world as a solo backpacker, I have seen firsthand how the human desire for connection transcends language barriers, personality differences, and various belief systems. This natural tendency to form relationships and depend on each other is integral to our society and our lives. In juntos, which means “together” in Spanish, I explore these human connections through figurative sculptures using abstraction, repetition, diversity, and balance.

The simple, abstract figures that make up juntos capture the internal composition of a person rather than …

Trans-Pacific Connections: Chinese Porcelain And Aztec Motifs In Colonial Mexico, Natalia Ramirez

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This research explores artworks within the Global Baroque as visual and ideological evidence through which colonial power, trade, and cross-cultural influence shaped the material culture of the early modern world. Centering on blue and white ceramics as a key medium of transcultural and trans-local exchange, the study analyzes how global motifs, particularly those drawn from Aztec and Chinese traditions, were reinterpreted, aestheticized, and circulated in Aztec and Novohispanic artistic practices.

Through a close observational comparison of Aztec and Chinese decorative systems, the study recognizes contrasting systems of cultural documentation embedded within similar visual forms. Aztec motifs, rooted in ritual, calendrical, …

Trans-Pacific Connections: Unveiling Cultural Exchange Through Baroque Folding Screens Of Japan And Mexico, Natalia Christine Ramirez

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This study focuses into the often-overlooked world of 16th-17th-century globally-mobile folding screens, revealing them as vastly important cultural objects. While conventional scholarship tends to compartmentalize artistic traditions, focusing on isolated cultures, this research emphasizes the vibrant exchanges that connected Japan and Mexico during the ‘Baroque’ period. By contrasting the Conquest of Mexico screen with the Japanese Namban Folding Screen, the nuances and vastness of cultural interaction through creative objects becomes illuminated and revered as important pieces of global history.

Through applying global art historical theories, especially the concept of the ‘global Baroque,’ I explore how Mexican biombo screens adapted from …

God Who Crafts: An Appalachian Theology Of Making And Community, Gwendolen Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Appalachia has been the subject of much speculation and often disparagement since it first became distinct as a part of the United States in approximately the 1860s, but it is more than just its reputation. This dissertation discusses the history and modern myth of Appalachia, and then it considers Appalachia on its own terms through what the people who live there have said about it and about their own lives.

This work focuses on the continued prominence of craft and its place in the spiritual lives of mountain people as it examines interviews that I conducted with mountain crafters. I …

Fantastical Blooms, Lisa Dienst-Thomas

Student Projects

My work explores the marriage of imagination and meticulous technique to produce vibrant, one‑of‑a‑kind jewelry that bridges traditional metalsmithing with cutting‑edge digital fabrication. My early training included foundational metalsmithing techniques such as sawing, soldering, riveting, hinge making, forming, polishing, etching, roller printing, stamping, lost wax casting, and chain making. Over time, I gravitated toward the techniques I loved most and honed them with intention. The physicality of working with hammers, saws, fire, and metal spoke to something deep within me. I find the rhythmic motion of sawing metal to be meditative and grounding. Eventually, I yearned to incorporate more color …

Restoring Context: Interdisciplinary Approaches To Art Conservation And Registration Challenges In Rural Museums, Jade Karas '25

Senior Scholarly and Creative Symposium

A prevalent issue for museums in rural areas is a lack of reliable registration methods. This occurs for a number of reasons whether it be a lack of resources (human, financial, spacial, etc.) or the erosion of knowledge overtime due to cultural reliance on generational knowledge. Additionally, different registrars often develop new methods for inventory without leaving behind instructions, leading subsequent registrars to devise their own methods. These gaps in the registration process frequently result in “registration problems”, objects that don’t get properly inventoried and thus have little to no context for their origins. This thesis aims to fill in …

Society’S Press: Designing A Digital Commons To Promote Critical Thought And Civil Discourse, Louis Driver

Honors College Theses

This thesis proposes the design of a new digital commons aimed at counteracting the negative incentives that currently dominate online discourse. This paper outlines the research and design of a system that promotes informative, medium-length, user-generated content, emphasizing thoughtful communication over virality. Inspired by academic peer-review practices, the proposed platform will implement a community-driven moderation model to reduce low-quality contributions and foster constructive feedback.

Art In Itself: The Vision Of Three Female Mississippi Artists, Jane E. Thomas

Honors Theses

This thesis is a collection of longform, narrative-style journalistic profiles on artists in Northeast Mississippi. These artists include Carol Roark from Enid and Hannah McCormick and Coulter Fussell from Water Valley. Each profile highlights an individual artist’s work, from her background, inspirations, process and distinctiveness as a creator. These profiles required studio visits and extensive interviews, as well as secondary interviews with clients, gallery owners and art curators. An overarching theme between the three artists is their ability to recognize artistic potential in their immediate surroundings; Roark paints landscapes from her own backyard, McCormick paints scenes from everyday life and …

Automation Of Javanese Shadow Puppets Using Machine Control, Kristian Rice, Yinson Tso, Mukhammadali Yuldoshev

Publications and Research

The virtualization of Javanese shadow puppetry (Wayang Kulit) offers a unique opportunity to preserve and revitalize traditional performance art through immersive digital platforms. This project explores the development of a virtual Wayang Kulit experience using real-time 3D engines like Unity/Unreal Engine while focusing on simulating the mechanics and aesthetics of shadow puppet performance. The puppets are designed using detailed 2D planes and rigged with skeletal systems to reflect the stylized motion of traditional puppetry. An aspect of this project is integrating an AI-driven control system that autonomously animates the puppets, learning from recorded puppeteer performances to replicate gesture, rhythm, and …

We Can Do It, Ukraine!, Anastasiya Kelley

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Blue Moon, Erika Fredricks

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Fruits Of The Spirit, Eve Martini

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sapphic Belles, Maddox Carus

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Swamp, Emma Ming

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Still Alive, Nayra Torres

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Made New, Eve Martini

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Where Light Rests, Evan Meyers

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.

Tea Time, Erika Fredricks

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

No abstract provided.