By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Dorothy Uber Bryan and Willard Wankleman galleries in the Bowling Green State University School of Art were packed, elbow-to-elbow for the opening of the BFA Senior Thesis Exhibition on Saturday.
Family members, friends, faculty and community members filled the spaces as 53 senior BFA student artists introduced their yearlong thesis work as part of the two-week exhibition.
Brianna Killilea’s “Just a Nymph” salt-fired stoneware art won the Medici Circle Cup Best of Show Award, judged by external juror and New York sculptor Will Corwin.
The ceramic insects’ details are stark and emotional, as their exoskeletons lie in piles below a stoneware tree trunk on the wall.
According to her artist’s statement, her work was compelled by an interest in nature.
“I was drawn to my reference insects’ dead and stagnant states. There is a raw and familiar emotion I feel seeing a creature frozen during their last moment,” she wrote. After her father’s death when she was 10 years old, her senior thesis project allowed her “to explore my personal feelings of grief through its complex connection to nature.”
Rachel Miller‘s “Nada Permanece Como Era” (Nothing Remains as it Was) mixed media artwork won the Medici Circle Purchase Prize Award, also selected by Corwin.
The three colorful and realistic portraits were inspired by the people of Spain, who she met while studying abroad.
“There’s just a different level of connection with people in Spain, so that’s what I wanted to explore,” Miller said about her senior thesis project. “I felt a stronger connection with the people of Spain; there’s a closeness and personal-ness.”
Bright colors are a trademark for her artistic style, along with the process for creating her work.
“The process of drawing is like I’m getting to know the people across the room. I like spending time with the details, spending time with them and getting to know them,” explained.
Miller, who grew up in Waterville, was part of an accelerated bachelor’s/master’s program in Spanish and the BFA. She completed her bachelor’s degree and is continuing the master’s program, with plans to return to Spain in August.
School of Art Director Charles Kanwischer announced all of the BFA award winners including the faculty awards, external juror awards and the purchase awards. Will Corwin, a sculptor from New York, was this year’s external juror. He works with cast metal and plaster and creates abstract but representational work incorporating imagery from his investigations into symbolism and archeology.
“This show is filled with absorbing and interactive work made in a wide range of styles and media, demonstrating high levels of craft and care,” Kanwischer said. “I see across the work, expression of a need to be present for each other, patient and understanding with each other and attentive for each other’s experiences and points of view.
This year’s award winners included:
Faculty Awards
- Aaron Macy Memorial Scholarship—Citlaly Tobon
- Allison Rednour Excellence in Ceramic Research Award—Elisa Costanzo
- Dave Cayton Memorial Scholarships—Louisa Peterson and Erin Simpkins
- James W. Strong Digital Arts Achievement Award—Elizabeth Kill
- James W. Strong Graphic Design Achievement Award—Elliot Olson
- James W. Strong Studio Achievement Award—Citlaly Tobo
- James W. Strong Outstanding Senior Award—McKenna Mahakian
- Marilyn Singleton/Medici Circle Leadership Award (Undergraduate)—Lyndsey Stephens
- Mark Borsz Memorial Scholarship—Kass Fynch
- Robert W. Hurlstone Memorial Art Glass Award—Lillian Hausman
- Tom and Jane Vanden Eynden Art Education Award—Kaitlyn Taylor and Madelein Dietric h
- Tom and Jane Vanden Eynden Photography Award—Sara Perez
External Juror’s Awards
Dominick and Elizabeth Labino Art and Technology Award: Lillian Hausman, “Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? (Who Will Watch the Guards?).
In addition to Hausman, nominees for the Labino award included Maddie Henderly, “Bits Handmade Creatives;” Clayton Horak, “Dream Sequence 29;” Gideon Kellenbarger, “Open Run!”; Jon Richards, “Tell Me What I Am;” and Kaitlyn Taylor, “Fading Moments Lingering Lines.”
Monnier Family Foundation Outstanding Artist Award: Ashtyn Barga, “PHYTODIVERGENT.” Other Monnier award nominees included Madeline Dietrich, “Growth Happens Where There Is Room for Rest;” Jessica Faber, “To Love another person is to see the face of god;” Elliot Olson, “You’re Trash!;” Jon Richards, “Tell Me What I Am;” and Taylor Turner, “Pressure Point.”
Additional student artists whose work is part of the exhibition are:
Zachary Blosser, Brooke Bullock, Jozlyn Burky, Adeline Croy, Laura Ewell, Ashley Fryer, Brecken Gamby, Henry Groh, Benjamin Hanzel, Aiden Hart, Janessa Jewell, Madelyn Junk, Madeline Kissinger, Brianna Klocinski, Abigail Koesters, Alexander Langenderfer, Olivia Luscombe, Elana Maraldo, Madeline McKinley, Katelynn Meadows, Amanda Mitchell, Romaiza Nadeem, Rachael Phillips, Keaton Rath, Alyssa Reamsbottom, Olivia Reincke, Blake Rupp, Makayla Sayer, Emma Shaffer, Lily Susag, Chloe Toon, Alaina Touma, Taylor Marie, Carlton Williams and YuTing Wu.
“Your BFA thesis work is a big milestone,” Kanwischer told the student artists. “You’ve earned the right to feel pretty good about what you’ve done. You can take your ‘Victory Lap,” the theme of the 2026 exhibition.
Much of the work the students have created is motivated by a desire to be useful in addressing pressing social issues, he added.
“Our society needs the creativity, the problem-solving skills and the resiliency of artists and designers,” he said. “The work demonstrates that our students are ready and willing to take the challenge.”
The exhibition in the BGSU School of Art galleries runs through March 28. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
