The team of dedicated students (left to right, top to bottom) Kelly Bestgen, Bara’ah Jaraiseh, Glenda Kimball, Lollie Campbell, Alec Trimble, Kyle Stamm and Zack Blessing exhibited World War I art pieces at the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum at PNAS.
Graphic design seniors open exhibit of WWI inspired pieces
By Georgana Hess
The 2017 Pensacola State College Bachelor of Applied Science Graphic Design graduating class has opened a new exhibit at the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum at PNAS. The exhibit features graphic design art from the seniors in the program.
Mark Hopkins asks his students every year to participate in their own design and arrangement of the exhibits. In early spring, the students are given a list of potential subjects to use as a central idea. They work closely with the deputy director (Buddy Macon) of the National Aviation Museum.
This year, the first World War became the focus of this iconic exhibition. This subject was chosen in part due to the 100th anniversary of this historic event. Each student had his/her own field of focus within this vast subject matter.
Featured topics ranged from the heroic men and women from the war to that which was consumeristic. The schematic modes are largely varied as well. The project has been in the works since spring, culminating in its finalization in November.
The exhibit, buried in the pseudo trenches, opened on Nov. 3rd with much interest from the throngs of museum attendees. The students wanted to make their exhibit appear a more permanent part of the museum. For this reason, they built their own trenches with old pallet wood, “sandbags” and barbed wire.
A collection of prints entitled “Military Service Members Poster Series” by artist Kelly Bestgen.
Students Kelly Bestgen, Zachary Blessing, Lollie Campbell, Glenda Kimball, Bara’ah Jaraiseh, Shane Looney and Kyle Stamm were all actively involved with the project from start to finish. This includes setup and advertising as well as their own personal projects.
Mark Hopkins — former director of the Naval Aviation Museum and current Graphic Design Program Coordinator — has been an active part of exhibits such as these for five years now and feels that this class has exceeded his expectations.
He thought he had “seen it all” before the enthusiasm of this year’s group of students. He remarks how Zachary Blessing not only created a cookbook relevant to the time, but how Zachary cooked nearly every recipe. Professor Hopkins advised his youthful team, “You guys are going to be part of history.”
Awards were given for Best of Show to Zachary Blessing, Most Creative to Kyle Stamm and Director’s Choice to Lollie Campbell.