Fine Arts Commons^™

The Ultra Dilemma: Understanding The Impact Of Ultra-Processed Food, Cassia Elizabeth Brenning

Masters Theses

Ultra-processed food dominates the market, making up an estimated 73% of the national food supply and costing 52% less than healthier, minimally- processed alternatives (Ravandi et al). With such a large supply, there is a great demand to sell these products to consumers. Major food corporations rely on misleading labels, heavy marketing, and industry-funded research to manipulate consumers into buying more of their products. While these products are cheap, quick, convenient, and delicious, they are not components of a healthy diet.

This thesis argues that the best way to tackle the issue of ultra-processed food is by redirecting focus from …

Midlife, Michael Sevcik

Poetry MFA Theses

Abstract

Midlife by Michael James Sevcik is a collection of poetry that explores issues of age, gender, sexuality, identity, desire, family, and loss within a predominantly domestic space while addressing broader social, cultural, and philosophical issues using a phenomenological poetics grounded in everyday experience. The collection is organized into three distinct yet interrelated “movements:” the first movement, “Anchored,” establishes an existential yearning amidst professional and amorous stasis and familial pressures. The second movement, “Liminal,” explores temporality and its relationship to place and memory. The third movement, “Renewal,” incorporates travel, family history, and art, transforming them into critical modes of aesthetic …

Subculture And Identity As An Escape From The Societal Norms Of Power Imbalance And Authoritative Abuse, Sarah Goldberg

Master's Theses

By definition, a “bolthole” is an animal’s escape or burrow; or, a person’s escape or place of refuge. It also connotes construction, building, even sculpture - relating proletarian materials to themes of working-class labor and the need for escape. Through sculpture, installation, drawing, and oil painting, Bolthole as a body of work examines power imbalance as a societal norm, and identity and subculture as a rejection of the influence of capitalist institutions. Animal symbolism is used in combination with figurative work and portraiture, directly comparing power imbalances between humans to those in nature; such as predator and prey, parent and …

La Bayadere: An Examination Of The Romantic Era In The Modern Day, Charlene Font, Autumn Eckman, Kristopher Pourzal

Symposium of Student Scholars

The Romantic Era of art saw a shift from male to female dancers on stage. The female dancer became associated with mysticism and fantasy for the benefit of the male audience. With the onset of mysticism, came the idealization of death which was a common theme in many Romantic Ballets. The ballet, La Bayadère, is a Romantic Era ballet that has been adapted multiple times within the past half-century. However, in an effort to preserve its relevance to the modern-day audience, three ballerinas - Marianela Nuñez, Natalia Osipova, and Tamara Rojo - have altered the original choreography to present the …

Final Project Documentation - Costume Design, Ski Sciaraffa

Graduate Artistry Projects and Performances

Costume design process and reflection for NIU's production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist, directed by Alexander Gelman with student actors and designers.

Final Project Documentation - Lighting Design, Kev Kollmann

Graduate Artistry Projects and Performances

No abstract provided.

Primary Care Provider Communication Barriers With College-Aged Students, Mckenna Mahakian, Sharon Schaeffer, Rachel Immel

Honors Projects

As both a researcher and a college student, I’ve noticed that my peers and I share a common negative sentiment toward scheduling and attending routine doctor’s appointments. There are unique barriers in place for the age demographic; college students encountering the medical system and Primary Care Providers (PCPs) seem to have unique challenges in communication. I released a qualitative, anonymous survey to Bowling Green State University students to gauge opinionated responses on sentiments regarding how they felt about the level of communication between themselves and their provider, how the pediatric switch to a regular doctor impacted their inpatient care, how …

A Burlesque: The Shimmering Body Of Revealing, Lola Montgomery

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

A Burlesque: The Shimmer Manuscript is a hybrid critical–creative work that examines burlesque as an embodied methodology and a mode of knowledge production. Drawing from my two decades as a performer–scholar, the work reframes glamour, desire, and adornment as epistemological practices rather than theatrical ornamentation. The project is significant in that it expands understandings of performance studies, autotheory, and feminist aesthetics by foregrounding the performer’s body as an intelligent, sensing, world-making apparatus.

The methodology is creative practice research and archive-driven, integrating backstage documentation, AI-assisted photomontage, and theoretical reflection. The work draws from poststructuralist and feminist frameworks (Irigaray, Deleuze & Guattari, …

Enhancing Facial Expressiveness For Games Through Procedural Animation, Abhijit Varanasi

All Theses

Facial animation is one of the most important parts of bringing characters to life in video games and virtual experiences. This thesis explores a new approach to creating more expressive facial animations using procedural techniques and blended facial performance for more flexibility. The project uses FACS (Facial Action Coding System), which breaks down facial expressions into small, measurable muscle movements. By building a facial rig based on these muscle units, the character’s face can be animated in a way that reflects real human emotion. The animation in this work is not just pre-recorded, though it can respond in real-time to …

Spiral, William Edward Krauland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Spiral is an audio programme comprised of six individual, but related, parts. Installed in Rogers, Arkansas at the historical Rogers Milk Processing Plant, colloquially known as “The Creamery”, on the evening on November 7th, Spiral presented the audience with complex entanglements of noise, both gentle and harsh, field recordings, feedback, and synthesized melody. Built in parts, each section of the audio programme used elements from the others, spiraling on itself, attempting a deeper understanding of its own structure and meaning through both moments of centrifugal and centripetal force. Let us consider the following “thesis” a supplement or a reflection on …

Pepita Pardell: Paradigma De La Invisibilización De La Mujer En El Cine Animado Español, Marta Pardell Carretero

GDI. Revista de investigación de Género, Diseño e Innovación

Pepita Pardell i Terrade (Barcelona 1928 – 2019) es pionera del cine de animación. Participó en la primera película que se rodó en España, Garbancito de la Mancha (1945), que también es el primer film hecho en Europa con la técnica del acetato (Pagès, 2018), así como en las principales producciones que se rodaron hasta 1993. Es también la primera mujer en codirigir cine de animación en España y en ser animadora jefe de un estudio. Su trayectoria es singular, inusual y vertebra la historia de la animación hecha a mano en nuestro país. Sin embargo, su trabajo no …

So You Think You Can Teach Dance?: Evaluating Effective Indicators And Assessments For Teaching Ballroom Dance In A High School Setting, Alyssa Arnold

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the most effective learning indicators of ballroom dancing for high school dance educators in Utah’s DSD so that a later date, updated rubrics and assessments could be created and presented as artifacts to DSD’s Fine Arts Supervisor for future teachers. The researcher sought to answer the following questions:

Q1 How are teachers currently assessing students’ ballroom dancing?

Q2 What are the most important learning indicators to teachers?

Q3 Are the learning indicators in alignment with the required standards?

This research took place over two sessions held during students’ regularly held ballroom dance …

Harnessing Irrationality, Jennifer E. Smith

All Theses

My thesis work considers the presence of objectifying gazes in representations of women in Western visual media and pop culture. I reference film, television, short form content shared on social media, and pornography to identify and repurpose tools of objectification in my large scale drawings and animated GIFs. I compare the objectifying tropes present in contemporary entertainment media and pop culture to those present in the Western art historical tradition of the reclining female nude, mythology and folklore, and pornography. Using these comparisons, I discuss objectification in terms of passive and active, consumption and appetite, and idealization and devaluation. I …

Processing Self, Ethan B. Mckellar

All Theses

Processing Self is a body of sculptural and utilitarian ceramic work that explores the intersection of the materiality of clay with the expression of grief and vulnerability. In this work I utilize the process of building unstable ceramic vessels and the communal action of wood firing to translate the experiences of grief and care into physical forms. As I build, I manipulate the clay to its limits, allowing it to falter under its own weight, and display the breakage and damage. By committing to support each vessel through its creation, I make a promise to persevere, echoing the commitment I …

Self-Portrait, Natalie Vazquez-Martinez

Gandy Dancer Archives

Medium: acrylic paint and wood

Moi, Natalie Vazquez-Martinez

Gandy Dancer Archives

Medium: oil on canvas

The Grand Scheme Of Things: A Review, Paige Louks

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Leslie, Natalie Vazquez-Martinez

Gandy Dancer Archives

Medium: soft pastels and colored pencils

Heartland, Emma Eager

Gandy Dancer Archives

Medium: acrylic on canvas

I Miss You, Caitlin Andrejova

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

A Subdural Hemorrhage, Marianne Koleng

be Still

This piece attempts to weave together an understanding of medicine, healing, trauma, and neuroscience through an exploration of past injury and how pivotal moments as such can influence a future career pursuing medicine. This piece also demonstrates how seeking attention can lead to deleterious health impacts and investigates the importance of tempering pride with humility.

Attention - Volume 10

be Still

No abstract provided.

Abstract Attention, Colorized, Marianne Koleng

be Still

This vibrant abstract painting that explores the fluidity of human feelings through bold, sweeping brushstrokes and a contrasting color palette. Bursts of red and orange suggest intensity and passion, while cooler blues and grays add a sense of introspection and calm. The lack of defined forms invites viewers to project their own interpretations, making the piece a dynamic reflection of chaos and beauty in the search for attention.

I Want You To Want Me, Marianne Koleng

be Still

This piece calls to the theme of "attention" through a mixed media piece incorporating collage, ink, and colored pencil. It embraces the nuances of both anatomy and popular music, rock-and-roll, to be specific. The title is taken from the popular song by Cheap Trick, of the same name in an effort to elude to the desire for human attention in a human form.

Even Flow, Marianne Koleng

be Still

This piece attempts to connect the "ebb and flow" of music and art with the sometimes strict interpretation of anatomy. It calls to attention what often seem as opposites - the cold nature of medicine and science with the seemingly warm and free nature of music and art. While many see them as opposites, this piece attempts to convey they are really two sides of the same coin.

Pick & Choose, Sana Lulu

be Still

To me, attention goes hand in hand with patience and is a core part of my creative process. When it comes to my art, I generally ride inconsistent waves of inspiration, meaning I often churn out pieces all in one session, finessing a piece until I am satisfied. In that span of time, all that matters to me is getting my piece as close to how I picture it in my mind as possible, giving it my full undivided attention. I tend to fixate on projects and have a hard time revisiting them once I decide to end the session. …

Anne-Katrine, Tiffany Tran

be Still

I wrote “Anne-Katrine” in memory of my late cousin. The poem explores how our attention lingers on those who have shaped us, reflecting the quiet, persistent act of remembering someone across time and space. It examines how mindful attention allows us to honor the past and keep cherished moments alive, even when we cannot hold them.

"Sees" The Day, Angelica M. Ruiz

be Still

No abstract provided.

More Than Medicine: The Quiet Power Of Attention, Eleni Geletu

be Still

This short reflection is based on my experience as a Patient Advocacy Representative. It tells the story of a phone call with a patient in distress and shows how simply paying attention and showing care can make a real difference. The piece reminds us that healing often begins with compassion, not just medicine. It highlights the importance of listening, empathy, and human connection in healthcare.

Keywords: compassion, patient care, attention, empathy, narrative medicine, advocacy, healing

The Crystal House Of The Valley, Melissa Gonzalez

be Still

No abstract provided.