Apr 13, 2022

FHSU celebrates art scholarship winners as part of honors exhibit

Posted Apr 13, 2022 6:30 PM
Cody Conger, a senior in graphic design from Hays, with his animated short titled "The Meat Industry." Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post<br>
Cody Conger, a senior in graphic design from Hays, with his animated short titled "The Meat Industry." Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Fort Hays State University art department kicked off its annual student honors exhibition by awarding scholarships to art students.

The show will run through April 22 at the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art on the FHSU campus.

Cody Conger, a senior in graphic design from Hays, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship for his animated short titled "The Meat Industry."

Conger based the animation on a book, which is about how the meat industry is harmful to the environment.

"I was trying to put it in a way that people could see it differently than just be told random facts," he said.

Riley Tinder, a sophomore in graphic design from Basehor, with her postcards titled "Losing Hair, Not Beauty." Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Riley Tinder, a sophomore in graphic design from Basehor, with her postcards titled "Losing Hair, Not Beauty." Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post

One of these illustrations portrays how industrial chicken operations overfeed chickens to the point they become so heavy that their legs snap.

Riley Tinder, a sophomore in graphic design from Basehor, was also a $1,000 scholarship winner for her postcards titled "Losing Hair, Not Beauty."

The cards are based on a poem Tinder wrote about women losing their hair as a result of cancer treatment. She compares the women to flowers that are losing their petals.

The words of the poem make up women's profiles in black lettering.

"Basically what my message is that just because you lose your hair doesn't mean you lose your beauty. That is something that women who have breast cancer go through. ...

"Often as women, we identify ourselves with our hair, so when that's lost, it's a big part of us. This is really encouraging women to see the beauty that comes from within."

Mason Lane Cloud, junior in ceramics from Wichita, with his ceramic piece "Outreach." The piece explores self-harm. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Mason Lane Cloud, junior in ceramics from Wichita, with his ceramic piece "Outreach." The piece explores self-harm. Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post

Mason Lane Cloud, junior in ceramics from Wichita, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship for his ceramic piece "Outreach." The piece explores self-harm.

"I wanted to depict a healthier approach," he said. "A lot of therapists will suggest clients draw on themselves. The first arm has cuts and blood. The second has scars. The third has scars and writing to show a healthier progression of how to release that stress.

"It's not really effective to just tell a person to stop. Better to offer a different method that does the same thing but in a healthier way."

Each arm is reaching out more. Cloud said this is symbolic of the need to talk about the issue and raise awareness.

Rylie Hazelton, senior in ceramics from Meriden, with her urn, which is titled "Resting Place." Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Rylie Hazelton, senior in ceramics from Meriden, with her urn, which is titled "Resting Place." Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post

Rylie Hazelton, senior in ceramics from Meriden, was a $200 scholarship winner for her ceramic piece "Roadkill." It is a plate with an image of a raccoon on it.

"I wanted to focus on how people treat everyday animals that you see all of the time and that you see on the side of the road," she said. "Humans put so much value into their own death, not into that of animals, especially when you run them over. But their life still matters."

Riley also had an urn in the show, which is titled "Resting Place."

"In the last year with so many people dying from COVID, I thought about what would happen to me when I die," she said. "I reached the point where I'm not afraid of it anymore. I think it's going to be a very peaceful thing. I wanted to make a place I can be after I'm gone."

Kiernan McCarty, junior in drawing from Erie, Colo., with his figure drawing titled "Nightmare Before Sex." Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Kiernan McCarty, junior in drawing from Erie, Colo., with his figure drawing titled "Nightmare Before Sex." Photo by Cristina Janney/Hays Post

Kiernan McCarty, junior in drawing from Erie, Colo., was a $200 scholarship winner for his piece "Nightmare Before Sex."

The drawing is based on a figure drawing by Rich Rethorn. McCarty's piece has a figure drawing of a reclining man and an image of a monster.

"I'm a transgender man, and it's an expression of my discomfort with my body and how society portrays my body as this monster and grotesque thing when really it's just a normal person," he said.

The other $200 scholarship winners included:
• Jacob Basye for "Useless Man Devil"
• Mariah Blakenbaker for "Self Portrait"
• Laura Casey for "Marble Effect"
• Jade Chapman for "Giraffes Inside and Out"
• Holly Donaldson for "Pointed Raku Vessel"
• Madison Gleason for "Rings on a String"
• Elizabeth Goering for "Untitled"
• Amiyah Gonzalez for "Pretty Bird"
• Laurel Haley for "Abstract Dynamism"
• Makenna Hammond for "Grief from Inside"
• Rylie Judd for "Genderless Love"
• Maria Neale for "The Right One"
• Rebekah Reed for "3 Faced"
• Emily Schoeppner for "Michelle"
• Konnor Splichal for "Cosmic Light"
• P.J. Stauffer for "Leakage"
• Brittany Wheeler for "Fire!"
• Ian Will for "Ace of Spades Switchplate"

Senior recognitions included:
• Morgan Budig for "Spain Interiors"
• Garrett Carver for "Kismet"
• Ali Colwell for "Color Void Dominoes"
• Sadie McCaey "Ataraxia"
• Jarom Ort for "Crema Sobre Cramo"
• Chandler Reich for "Anatomical Connections"