Art and Design Commons^™

Glitched Humanity: A Digital Media Arts Advocacy Project, Shelly Maloney

Teaching Resource Archive

This lesson includes an original sample project and website that directs students towards learning how to utilize digital glitch art to create advocacy or raise awareness for the social, cultural, environmental, or political issue of their choice. It is designed to engage students in critical thinking skills, cross-curricular connections, reflective writing, digital art making, group discussion, and peer review.

Artists can use video and other media sources to explore the self-destructive tendencies of human nature (i.e. violence/war, consumption, and/or carelessness/environmental neglect) or other social, cultural, or political issues using digital manipulation, layered imagery, sound, and video.

Layers Of Identity, Elizabeth Toffel

Teaching Resource Archive

Students explore identity, specifically that identity is layered, shaped by personal experience, cultural background, community ties, and unique traits. Students conduct interviews with peers, reflect on identity components, both individually and collectively, and create a layer artwork on transparent acetate sheets. When stacked the layers visually showcase the layers of the student’s identity and represent how identity is complex, constructed, and always shaped by multiple influences.

Die Baukästen Des Bauhauses: Futurität Und Affekt In Entwürfen Von Alma Siedhoff-Buscher, Clara R. Louden

Scripps Senior Theses

In den frühen 1900er Jahren manifestierte sich die wachsende Besorgnis über Kinder und ihre Entwicklung in den Arten von Spielzeug, die entwickelt und vermarktet wurden. Die Entwürfe von Alma Siedhoff-Buscher, einer Bauhaus-Schülerin, verkörpern am besten die Zukunftsorientierung der Designschule und die latenten Ängste, die um die nächste Generation kreisen. Durch die Analyse ihres Schiffbauspiels und des Kinderspielschranks werden die Fragen nach Normalität, Kreativität und dem „richtigen“ Kind deutlich.

Strata: Layered Support Through Community, Resources, & Design, Jenna M. Sawyer

Theses and Dissertations

Strata reimagines transitional housing as a layered, responsive ecosystem that supports the holistic well-being of individuals experiencing housing insecurity. Inspired by the vertical structure of a forest canopy, the design integrates biophilic principles, trauma-informed strategies, and sustainable practices to create a dignified, inclusive environment. Located in the historic Sauer’s Factory in Richmond, Virginia, the project leverages adaptive reuse to ground the building in local context while addressing systemic gaps in supportive housing. Public amenities, such as a hygiene center, café, learning spaces, and a free store, encourage community integration and reduce stigma, while flexible private units and calming retreat spaces …

Evolution, Karen Jackson

Quill & Scope

Sparked by a Microbiology II lecture on plague, this piece reflects on the evolution of medicine across centuries. From herbs and leeches to vaccines and antibiotics, our tools have changed, but the plague doctor and the modern scientist are united by a shared desire to help and heal.

Radial, Steffy Jeswin

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Japanese Art And Aesthetics On The Paintings Of Théodore Rousseau, Erinn Alexis Stuart

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Landscape paintings of Barbizon painter Théodore Rousseau provide a unique perspective on the impact of Japanese artworks on nineteenth-century French painting. The examination of Eastern influences on Western art has been confined to Western urban popular culture, resulting in a narrative that restricts the understanding of modern art to the context of Western industrialization. This method of exploring cultural influences constructs a narrative of othering, confining the perception of its impact to the superficial and commercial, thus perpetuating an othering subnarrative, not only between the two nations but also between the different genres of Western art. Through an investigation into …

Senior Art Capstone Exhibition, Claire Ostopowicz

Senior Art Portfolios

I made movie poster special edition for my senior art capstone project.

Taylor Karnopp, Senior Art Exhibition Portfolio, Taylor Karnopp

Senior Art Portfolios

This is work created for the Senior Art Exhibition Portfolio 2025. This work includes graphic design, package design, ad design, and brand identity.

Senior Capstone 2025, Wren K. Mason

Senior Art Portfolios

No abstract provided.

Dolce Vita Packaging Design, Milena S. La Via

Senior Art Portfolios

Dolce Vita Limoncello is a fictional hard Italian liqueur brand I created consisting of three different liqueur flavors—limecello, citruscello, and limoncello. Dolce Vita, which translates to “sweet life” in English, includes three unique bottle designs, merchandise, and promotional advertisements to establish the brand. The brand’s bright colors are inspired by colors found in Italian packaging and design. This project was influenced by my time spent abroad in Italy, where I photographed various Italian designs and landscapes that became a key source of inspiration.

Senior Show - Merch Design, Nicole Tranel

Senior Art Portfolios

This Senior Capstone Project serves as the culmination of my undergraduate journey, highlighting the skills I have acquired and demonstrating my ability to apply them in real-world professional settings such as merch design. Through this project, I expanded my expertise beyond artistry, embracing design as a complementary skillset that enhances my creative and problem-solving abilities.

Digital Zines As Mental And Sexual Health Communication Tools For Latina Teens: Format And Content Acceptability And Initial Findings, Jenn M. Lilly, D'Andrah Almanzar, Susan R. Pace, Dante D. Bryant

Social Service Faculty Publications

Recognizing the potential of digital zines (defined as selfpublished,

online publications combining artwork and

text) as culturally tailored health communication tools,

this article examines the acceptability and impacts of two

digital zines about mental and sexual health created by

Latina young people for Latina teens as a health communication

strategy. We conducted an anonymous online

survey completed by Latina teens who read the zines (32

for sexual health and 33 for mental health). Data analysis

aimed to explore, summarize, and interpret the collected

data using an artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced

approach. Survey participants found the zine format and

content acceptable and …

The Evolution Of Heritage: How Three Iconic American Jewelry Houses Have Navigated Their Legacy, Emily Vanderford

MA Theses

This thesis explores the evolution and preservation of heritage of three iconic American jewelry houses: David Webb, Harry Winston, and Tiffany & Co. Through a detailed examination of their foundational design philosophies, the impact of ownership changes, and responses to modern trends and cultural shifts, this study investigates how each house has navigated the balance of tradition and innovation. Archival research, published materials, and analysis of design practices have revealed the influence of each house’s foundational principles as well as the challenges posed by evolving markets and ownership. This research highlights the strategies that have allowed each house to remain …

Nft And The Future Of Art, Ying Kang

MA Theses

This thesis focuses on exploring the history of NFT, the effects of NFT on art and the future of art. There are many factors affecting NFT, including human subjective factors, such as the pursuit of economic interests and the psychology of blindly following the trend, as well as objective factors, such as macroeconomic policy changes, technological developments, COVID-19 pandemic, cultural advocacy for diversity and democratization, Russia-Ukraine conflict, collapse of major cryptocurrency entities, financial regulation, and endogenous flaws. These economic, political, technological, social, cultural and other factors are complicated and mutually influential, leading to NFT ups and downs in the past. …

The Impact Of Social Media Influencers On Contemporary Art Trends - A Comprehensive Analysis, Babette Meng

MA Theses

Social media have revolutionized the contemporary art market, how artists promote their work, how collectors initially find pieces, and how art is valued and sold. This study investigates the effects of social media on the art industry using a mixed methods approach consisting of qualitative case studies enabled by thematic analysis and quantitative survey with statistical correlation analysis. Key findings from this paper show that with social media, the artist's visibility is vastly increased, direct-to-collector sales are promoted, and dependence on traditional galleries is reduced. The study considers the position of art influencers in the process of art promotion, which …

Artcatalyze Investments: Empowering Art Investment Innovation, Wan Yu Hung

MA Projects

The Art Investment Fund represents an ambitious fusion of art expertise with state-of-the-art Web3 and cryptocurrency technology, poised to revolutionize the landscape of art investment. At its core, the Fund is dedicated to establishing a secure and transparent art investment trading platform that caters to the needs of artists and collectors alike. Anchored by a team of seasoned art advisors, the Fund offers personalized guidance tailored to each client's unique financial goals, ensuring that investment decisions are informed and strategic. Additionally, a cadre of skilled art restorers plays a crucial role in preserving the integrity and enhancing the long-term appreciation …

Hom: House Of Mexico In New York, Victoria Espinosa

MA Projects

New York City remains the epicenter of the global art world, attracting curators, collectors, museum directors, and other key players who are constantly seeking new ideas and emerging talent. For Mexican artists, having a presence in this dynamic environment is essential for gaining the visibility and recognition they deserve on the international stage. To address this need, I am committed to establishing a dedicated space in New York—not as a commercial gallery or museum, but as a non-profit platform showcasing the depth and diversity of Mexican arts & culture. The goal is to create a bridge between Mexican creativity and …

Paris: One Hundred Years Later, Olympia Rizzo Buaron

MA Projects

From April through October of 1925, the heart of Paris hosted the (the 1925 Paris Exposition), a monumental event that transformed the city into a showcase of artistic and industrial innovation.1 The year 2025 marks the one hundredth anniversary of this historic exposition. The French government initiated and funded the project during the interwar period, a time characterized by dynamic cultural shifts, a spirit of liberation, and a widespread embrace of modernity. Commonly referred to as the Roaring Twenties, this era was defined by a blend of hedonism, artistic innovation, and social upheaval, deeply shaped by the aftermath of World …

The Representation Of Feminine Beauty In Generative Artificial Intelligence Models, Haley R. Stacy

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology advances, its influence on media and societal perceptions becomes increasingly significant. This dissertation explores how popular generative visual AI models represent women and the implications for racial and body type inclusivity. This study examines women’s perceptions of AI-generated representations. Two primary research questions are being explored: (1) How do AI-generated algorithms represent women in visual outputs when prompted with broad beauty-related keywords? (2) How do women perceive their representation in these AI-generated visual outputs? Through a detailed analysis of AI-generated imagery, the research uncovers implicit and explicit biases within these systems. The research also gathered …

Blackness And Nineteenth-Century Art In The Atlantic World, Rachel Hooper

Curatorial Publications

No abstract provided.

I Miss My Teeth; I Feel Your Teeth, Emma A. Brauser

Scripps Senior Theses

I miss my teeth and I feel your teeth are two projects that build on one another in an exploration of the mouth as a vessel for embodied experience and interpersonal translation. These pieces represent the mouth as an ever-changing landscape, one that requires multisensorial modes of understanding. I feel your teeth counters overreliance on the visual, introducing gum-chewing as a way to comprehend the translation from the visual to the tactile and back to the visual.

The Chesapeake Pearl: A Proposal For An Environmental Public Art Installation, Samuel I. Reichard

Pitzer Senior Theses

In this thesis, I lay the foundation for an environmental art project along Chesapeake Bay. It includes an analysis of relevant literature and case studies, as well as a proposal for the project. The Chesapeake Pearl (working title) would be a 20-foot spherical aquarium that will visually display the water filtration capacity of eastern oysters and native seagrass, aiming to inspire curiosity around these organisms and the greater Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The project exists at the intersection of environmental art and environmental education and seeks to promote learning and public engagement through visually demonstrating a scientific process, the water filtration …

Visions Of The Garden: Transforming The Former Claremont Golf Course Into The Coastal Sage Mosaic, Ella C. Kim

Pitzer Senior Theses

A thirty-three-acre parcel of land sits at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains at a vulnerable wildland-urban interface (WUI), raising key ecological concerns. This parcel, a former golf course, is the focused site for this conceptual landscape and restoration plan. The now-neglected site has no proposed plans for restoration or development yet holds significant potential for transformation. Stakeholders’ conflicting visions range from land preservation, ecological restoration, Indigenous land rights, commodification for revenue and development, and prioritizing the needs of the natural environment in coexistence with modern human enjoyment. The conceptual plan addresses these critical considerations in verbal and visual …

Tracing The Lines In Comics And Life: Genealogies And My Place Within Them, Audrey M. Loo

Honors Theses

My thesis is a hybrid English Lit/Creative Writing project on comics. The English Lit half is an Artist’s Statement comprised of scholarly research and both analytical and personal writing, and this work will necessarily inform and be informed by the Creative Writing half, in which I create my own comics.

In Praise Of Dust, Hasler Gomez-Perez

Theses and Dissertations

A desire path is a physical manifestation of where a system has failed, but also where it has been refused, where a new path has been made. The wake exists in the post, it is not a singular, untethered event, but a subtle double entendre that lives in the post-death, but also in the pre-life—not a liminal limbo, but a superposition of dying and waking.

This collection was assembled and composed over the course of two years as I navigated my practice, myself, and others. Present here are my thoughts, my experiences, and in many ways my beliefs. IN PRAISE …

How To Remain A Stranger / Encountering, In A Basement, Hannah Rotwein

Theses and Dissertations

How to Remain a Stranger / Encountering, in a Basement consists of two parallel essays. On the lefthand side of the page, How to Remain a Stranger explores the ways that the legend of the Wandering Jew, the Tradescantia genus of plants, peddlers, and exile relate to my practice of collecting, sorting, and combining found objects. On the righthand side, Encountering, in a Basement describes my thesis exhibition at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. Focusing on the idea of the encounter, I detail the materials, considerations, and processes behind four of the ten sculptures in the …

Strange World, Brooklin Grantz

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis work explores the intersections of masculine and feminine labors as they relate to the structure of domestic space. I utilize materials and processes akin to craft, construction and architecture, and domicile upkeep, noting what is shared between gendered and polarized fields while exploring uses of the grid in various instances as a structure to adhere to and antagonize: a binary. Highlighting the queerness and fluidity of materials and the similarities between seemingly disparate processes, I relate to the objects I make and alter through my own gender fluidity. I do not see masculinity or femininity as autonomous: the …

The Paradox Of Value, David Enrique Guarnizo

Theses and Dissertations

The present thesis project examines how, in the United States, and especially in the state of Virginia, archetypes of "wealth," "value," and "identity" have been constructed in relation to land and territory. This analysis explores the tension between the inherent value of life on the land and the economic value that can be derived from it. This tension is exemplified by a theory known as the "paradox of value", also referred to as the "paradox of water and diamonds", which was developed by the renowned Scottish economist and philosopher, Adam Smith. This theoretical framework serves as a fundamental axis for …

Into Thick Air: Adapting Cultural Practices Into Solutions For Modern Wicked Problems, Syed Muhammad Erzum Naqvi

Theses and Dissertations

Into Thick Air argues that cultural practices can inspire solutions

to challenging modern problems. This project employs the Basant

festival as a case study to critically reimagine kite flying as a

collective practice with the potential to contribute to the reduction

of air pollution in Lahore, a city consistently ranked among those

with the poorest air quality globally. By building kites from fabric

treated with nanoparticle coatings, Into Thick Air transforms a

traditional community activity into an accessible, citizen-driven

method for removing pollutants from the air. The treated kites

empower Lahoris to take charge of their environment while

encouraging collective …