Campus Events Archives

Posted On: November 1, 2016
By: MC Admin

Dale Goldsmith Death is a universal life experience.

Yet, Christian churches often go out of their way to avoid addressing it, clearly and frankly.

At McPherson College’s Religious Heritage Lecture on Nov. 6, Dr. Dale Goldsmith and Dr. Joy Goldsmith will critically examine this tendency.

“Death has become a topic that has been ignored,” Dale Goldsmith said. “One of our main concerns is that in ignoring it, we’re not being very helpful. The church has basically outsourced the end of life to various establishments – including that of health care.”

Dale and Joy will present “Speaking of Dying” beginning at 4 p.m. in the McPherson Church of the Brethren at 200 N. Carrie St. – just off the McPherson College campus.

They will handle the lecture – based on their book “Speaking of Dying: Recovering the Church’s Voice in the Face of Death” – as a “tag-team” between father and daughter. The book was inspired by events surrounding the death of the Rev. Janet Forts Goldsmith, who died of cancer.

Janet was Dale’s daughter, Joy’s sister, and the student of co-author Dr. Fred Craddock at Candler Theological Seminary. The book, published in 2012, critically looks at the challenges of talking about dying within the Christian church.

Dale is a New Testament scholar, whose career includes 27 years as professor of philosophy and religion at McPherson College – eight of those as dean of the faculty. He is the author of “New Testament Ethics,” “Growing in Wisdom: Called to the Adventure of College,” and “Look – I Am With You: Daily Devotions for the College Year.”

For the lecture, Dale will focus on the narrative history of how Christianity viewed dying in the past, as well as how that view has changed in modern times to something more complicated and incoherent.

“Everybody’s dying,” he said. “As a Christian, you confront dying at your baptism, which is a baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ. And it initiates a new life in which dying is fully and meaningfully integrated.”

Joy is an associate professor of communication at the University of Memphis, examining in particular how communication can benefit patients, families, and heath care providers when dealing with chronic and terminal illnesses. She has co-authored on five books and is an editor of the “Oxford Textbook of Communication in Palliative Care.”

In the lecture, she will cover issues of communication and society as it relates to dying – including the techniques people use to avoid the topic.

“We’re masterful at it,” she said. “If stuff makes us uncomfortable and we don’t want to talk or think about it, we don’t.”

Joy said she hopes the lecture encourages people to “hold up a mirror” to their own communication habits in responding to dying and how they might improve those habits in the future. After all, people will deal with death for the rest of their life.

“Research tells us that the psychosocial part of us is what establishes our desire to live, the quality of life, and even the length of life,” she said. “Death is an inevitability. It’s a part of life.”

Every person must confront dying, Dale Goldsmith said, and faith communities could offer a narrative about it that helps people to discover meaning in the dying process.

“There are some problems with the secular story… that medicine will cure you,” he said. “That works until you die, and then the story fails. All of life should be meaningful and have significance – including dying.”

Dale said he hopes that those who come to the lecture gain a greater appreciation for the power of Christianity’s story about dying – both for those who need to hear it and for overall welfare and effectiveness of the church itself.

“I hope they have one of those ‘lightbulb moments’ that, yeah, we are avoiding this event that’s going to happen to everyone,” he said. “Perhaps we do have something in our tradition that we can take out, dust off, and put to good use.”

The public is invited and encouraged to attend this free lecture. The Religious Heritage Lecture was established at McPherson College through the generosity of three former faculty members. This endowed lecture series was founded to provide opportunity for presentation, analysis, and discussion of important issues within the Christian traditions represented by the faculty, staff, and students at McPherson College.

It was the intention of the contributors that this endowment should annually bring speakers of note to the McPherson College campus to address contemporary issues from diverse Christian perspectives, with a particular emphasis on the Church of the Brethren. It was also intended that this series impact persons beyond the immediate McPherson College Community.

In June 1998, Dr. Waldo Newberg established the Nelson Memorial Chair of Christian Education to honor John Emil Nelson and Olive Octavia Nelson, in gratitude for their contributions to Dr. Newberg’s life. Earnings from this endowed fund support the Religious Heritage Lecture.

Posted On: October 28, 2016
By: MC Admin

Don’t let on. While the Behavior Mania event at McPherson College is mostly about fun, there’s also a huge helping of learning being served up as well.

The 8th annual event was an opportunity on Oct. 27 for high school students from around the area to learn more about psychology, sociology and criminal justice, with engaging activities and presentations.

Each group of high school students travelled from one interactive encounter to another, with each room offering an interesting lesson related to the behavioral sciences. Through fun, the hope is to pique students’ interest in the subject.

In welcoming students to the event, Patrick Masar, senior admissions and financial aid counselor, told the students to prepare for some mind-bending experiences.

“Behavior Mania is one of our favorite things,” he said. “By the end of the day, we’re going to have your head spinning.”

The 60 students at the event arrived from seven area high schools – Chase, Centre (in Lost Springs), Bishop Carroll Catholic (Wichita), Elyria Christian (McPherson), Kingman, Norwich, and South Gray (Montezuma).

In one room, an activity called “The Pendulum Knows” had students experimenting with weighted pendulums on a chain – the sort that are popular among some groups for “fortune telling” purposes.

Dr. Bryan Midgley, associate professor of psychology, however, had a much more scientific and benign approcach. Rather than looking for “divination,” the students were just asked to think about “Finding Nemo” – defined by two stickers along one line – or “Superheroes” – indicated by stickers placed at either end of a line perpendicular to the first.

Holding the pendulum above the lines, students were instructed to try to keep the weight still and only think of one of the two subjects that they drew from a basket. Later, they were asked to try thinking of a circle or a line to see what would happen.

Zach Barney, a junior at Centre High School, ended up creating some of the strongest effects in one session, as the pendulum swung about half a foot side to side along the “Nemo” line and created a wide circle – without any conscious effort on his part.

“That’s really weird,” he said to himself.

Dr. Midgley explained that there were no spirits or telepathy at work. Instead, the best scientific explanation is that thinking about a shape or a direction creates imperceptible micro-movements in the hand that are amplified by the pendulum and chain.

“Psychology, I think, is most interesting when we take old ideas and look at them in a new perspective,” Dr. Midgley said.

Afterward, Barney talked about how interesting the experience was to him. He’s considering a possible minor in an area of the behavior sciences in college.

“So much goes on in the mind that we don’t know about,” he said, “And to actually learn about it is really cool.”

Other activities on the day included “We’re Having a Ball,” in which students had to work together and communicate to keep foam balls from falling through holes cut into large blue plastic tarps. Meanwhile Dr. Stephen Hoyer, a guest professor in behavioral sciences, presented “Big Head” – an exploration of optical illusions and the tricks the mind can play.

In the illusion that the activity is named after, students looked at hypnotic, rotating spiral. After a while, Dr. Hoyer had the students quickly look to his face – giving a momentary impression of his head expanding.

Other illusions he discussed were apparent movement where none actually exists (a phenomenon that allows cartoons to appear to move) and perceptual tricks based on expectations.

For example, he put an image on the projector screen of just a handful of white dots on a black background. It looks like nothing until those dots start to move and gives the clear sense of a person walking.

“In your head there are files of stuff you know about the world,” he said, “And your brain looks through those to see what it resembles.”

In another trick about expectations, Dr. Hoyer showed a picture of a tiger and explained that there was another hidden tiger in the picture. After a while, it becomes suddenly apparent that the words “Hidden Tiger” are formed by the tiger’s stripes.

“Once you see it, you can’t not see it,” he said. “Your brain is logical. It assumes that the stripes are random. No one writes on a tiger.”

Posted On: October 25, 2016
By: MC Admin

The McPherson College Jazz Festival will have something to offer everyone this year –area students, members of the community, and – now – a new opportunity just for McPherson College alumni.

The McPherson College Jazz Festival – now in its third year – will kick off with a public concert by the Doug Talley Quartet at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 2 in the McPherson Opera House. Tickets may be purchased from the opera house by calling 620-241-1952.

Kyle Hopkins, band director and associate professor of music, said he was especially excited to see the quartet perform.

“They are quite a famous group,” he said, “but just as importantly for us they are fabulously respected educators.”

New this year, the professional jazz performance will also include McPherson College hosting a special reception following the quartet’s performance for McPherson College alumni.

The next day on Nov. 3, everyone is invited to see more than 400 middle school, high school, and college students perform for the annual jazz festival on the campus of McPherson College. There will be 20 bands from 18 different schools performing, and the public is invited and encouraged to attend the free performances, which will be happening throughout the day.

“This festival has great appeal to students, community members and now alumni,” Hopkins said. “Making our annual festival inclusive of all these groups is a really unique and a powerful event for us.”

Posted On: September 29, 2016
By: MC Admin

The first performance of the Fern Lingenfelter Artist Series at McPherson College began not with the sound of piano music, but with the clink of more and more chairs being set out for the audience.

It was music to the ears of McPherson College – as it meant a full house and standing room only on Sunday – but that was nothing compared to the music that was to come.

Dr. Stephen Beus, professional pianist and professor of piano at Brigham Young University, was the first guest performer for the series, which honors the memory of Fern Lingenfelter – an MC graduate and piano instructor.

He began the performance with a simple bow, then let his playing speak for itself as he launched into a classic work by Felix Mendelssohn – the “Sonata in E Major, Op. 6.”

An expressive and dynamic performer, Dr. Beus would smile faintly and raise his eyebrows as his arms bounced during more whimsical sections, then lean in and “attack” the keys during louder, more intense stretches. Throughout the four selections during the recital, he was a master performer who displayed both technical perfection and a clear enjoyment of his work.

His achievements include first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first prize in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon), and receiving the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association – all of which he accomplished in one four-month period. His concerts have received high praise from critics, including the “Salt Lake Tribune,” which applauded his performance, saying, “Mesmerizing… explosive… intelligent… he belongs on the world stage.”

He first sat down to a piano at age 2, began lessons at age 5, and made his concert debut at age 9. Since then, he has earned degrees from Whitman College, The Julliard School, and Stony Brook University and has recorded on Endeavor Classics, Harmonia Mundi, and Centaur Records.

After the first selection, Dr. Beus introduced a work of “pop” classical piano by Franz Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, which includes rollicking sections that are so much a part of popular culture that even those with little exposure to classical music would spot them.

“Franz Liszt is one of my favorite composers,” Dr. Beus said. “He was treated as something of a rock star. There are a number of stories about Franz Liszt, but this is a family evening so I won’t share all of them.”

One of the family friendly tales was that women would mob a table where he had dined to drip the last few dregs from his wine glass into a tiny vial – which they would wear around their neck as a treasure.

Beus played an arrangement of the piece by Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who decided that “there weren’t enough notes, so he added some of his own.”

After intermission was a minimalist, modern piece – “Für Alina” by Arvo Pärt. Written for a young woman departing for college, it’s a quiet meditation.

“It’s very short and there’s never more than two notes played at a time and never the same note,” Beus said. “It represents two people’s lives going on simultaneously that never meet. Think of two people living in an apartment who have never met, but live only a few feet from each other. There are these people who live their lives all around us and for some reason we never meet a few of them.”

The performance concluded with “Sonata in E-flat Minor, Op. 26” by Samuel Barber – a darker and more brooding piece than the others on the program. Barber served in World War II, and the piece was likely inspired by that time.

“Many people believe the anger and violence in this piece reflects his experience in the war,” Dr. Beus said.

Following a standing ovation, he treated the audience to one last selection – a quiet, sublime piece by Kabalevsky called “A Short Story.” Dr. Beus said he first learned the piece at the age of nine.

Coming to McPherson College was wonderful, he said.

“People are so friendly,” he said. “And it was a great turnout.”

The Fern Lingenfelter Artist Series was established this year thanks to a generous commitment to McPherson College, in honor of MC alumna and piano teacher Fern Lingenfelter. Her son, Steve Clark – chairman of Clark Investment Group in Wichita, Kan. – generously established the supporting fund at MC. This cultural series consists of two annual music performance events, with a special emphasis on piano.

Lingenfelter taught piano in McPherson for years – both to traditional college students on the MC campus and younger students at a studio downtown. She developed her skills studying with Jessie Brown at McPherson College – where she earned a certificate in piano in 1924 – and with Swedish pianist Oscar Thorsén at Bethany College. Lingenfelter earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1925 and later a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938 from McPherson College.

Lingenfelter passed away in 1962, but her son, Steve Clark, said he has seen a long and lasting influence from her lifetime of work. Establishing the fund is his way to say, “Thank you,” and to support the music and the instrument she loved.

In addition to the concert on Sunday, Dr. Beus also held two masterclasses on Monday – one for high school students and the other for college students. Dr. Jan and Blaine Hageman attended on Sunday, and their son, Hadley, got to perform in the masterclass on Monday.

After the crescendo of the last piece of the program, Jan had only a few words to convey her feelings.

“Speechless,” she said. “It makes me want to take lessons again.”

Posted On: September 12, 2016
By: MC Admin

McPherson College will honor the legacy of a faithful Bulldog at its home football game on Sept. 17.

Blake Reed was a student assistant coach of the MC football team and died from complications of muscular dystrophy in 2010. The Blake Reed Memorial Football Game on Saturday will honor Reed and his lifelong enthusiasm for Bulldog football.

The game versus Southwestern College will begin at 7 p.m. with all admission proceeds benefiting the Blake Reed Mac2Mac Football Scholarship. This scholarship benefits one MC football player who exemplifies the Reed’s positive spirit and attitude.

This year’s recipient is Kavoderic McIntyre, a senior from Dallas, Texas, who will be recognized during halftime of Saturday’s game.

Blake was known for his enthusiasm and passion for life, not allowing muscular dystrophy to hold him back. A lifelong resident of McPherson, Blake graduated from McPherson High School in 2006 and attended McPherson College, where he became student assistant coach.

Though he could not take the field, McPherson College football coaches considered Blake the heart of the team. He learned the nuances of football and became both a leader and inspiration for the Bulldogs. He died Aug. 3, 2010, and hundreds attended his funeral in honor of his life and spirit.

The Mac2Mac scholarship fund has received more than $50,000 in contributions over the last six years and previous recipients of the scholarship have been James Temaat, John Davidson, Michael Ramos, Cole Long, and Evan Clary.

Posted On: September 7, 2016
By: MC Admin

The inaugural performance of McPherson College’s Fern Lingenfelter Artist Series will include piano selections to appeal to a variety of tastes – from classic Franz Liszt to a sublime, modern work that uses only a few dozen notes.

Pianist Dr. Stephen Beus will be the featured guest performer at 4 p.m. on Sept. 25 for this first-ever concert in the new series. Dr. Beus is planning a diverse program in the college’s Mingenback Theatre, taking a few moments before each piece to introduce it.

“Hopefully there will be something for everyone,” he said, “And even the new pieces will be accessible and understandable.”

In addition to the free public concert on Sept. 25, Dr. Beus will also be holding two masterclasses in Mingenback on Sept. 26 – one for high school students at 10 a.m. and the other for college students at 1:30 p.m. These sessions are also open for the public to attend and have no admission charge.

Dr. Beus is an award-winning pianist and assistant professor of piano at Brigham Young University. His achievements include first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, first prize in the Vendome Prize International Competition (Lisbon), and receiving the Max I. Allen Fellowship of the American Pianists Association – all of which he accomplished in one four-month period.

His concerts have received high praise from critics, including the “Salt Lake Tribune,” which applauded his performance, saying, “Mesmerizing… explosive… intelligent… he belongs on the world stage.”

He first sat down to a piano at age 2, began lessons at age 5, and made his concert debut at age 9. Since then, he has studied under Leonard Richter, Robert McDonald, Gilbert Kalish, Christina Dahl and Paulette Richards and earned degrees from Whitman College, The Julliard School, and Stony Brook University. Today he lives in Utah and has recorded on Endeavor Classics, Harmonia Mundi, and Centaur Records.

Dr. Beus said he can’t imagine what his life would be today without music and piano.

“I feel that music can take those moments that transcend words, and capture that moment – that experience – that was so formative and changing,” he said. “It expresses the things in life that words can’t.”

“Music and piano were her passion, and even years later people in McPherson would tell me, ‘Your mother was my piano teacher,’” Clark said. “I know she would be pleased to know what the college is now doing in her remembrance.

Dr. Beus said he is pleased to be the first performer in the series, and to recognize one committed to a life of teaching music.

“It’s a wonderful privilege. It’s an honor for me to do it,” he said. “I know teachers in my life who were dedicated to the art of music and the art of teaching. I appreciate what they contribute and how they change lives. I’m sure Mrs. Lingenfelter changed many lives.”

Posted On: August 23, 2016
By: MC Admin

Join us for Homecoming Weekend October 14-16, 2016

Alumni class reunions for 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011. Special reunion for Track & Field/Cross Country and an open house for the 40^th Anniversary for Auto Restoration.

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Posted On: August 22, 2016
By: MC Admin

“Emerge” by Joel T. Dugan

With just 17 works, one would expect the “What I Wish I Would Have Known” art exhibition at McPherson College to be a small one.

But visitors to the show will probably be initially struck by the sheer size of Joel T. Dugan’s paintings – most are huge at least four feet tall and four or five feet wide. One work that stretches 30 feet long across six canvases is so large, in fact, that it had to be grouped into three separate sections.

With a closer look, these images could easily claim an hour or more as a visitor picked out all the interesting and unusual details: A swimmer dissolving from the head down. Floating, intense eyes. Smoke drifting across the canvas without any clear source.

Wayne Conyers, professor of art, said that while most of Dugan’s work is surreal – in the same vein as Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher or René Magritte – his paintings also tell engaging, human stories.

“He tantalizes you,” Conyers said. “If it draws you in, it’s got you for a while.”

Dugan is a professional artist – primarily as a painter – and an assistant professor of painting at Fort Hays State University. He holds a long list of national exhibition credits and has completed a variety of public and corporate art commissions, including for Ford Motor Company and the State of Michigan.

In his artist statement for the show, Dugan said he strives to go beyond a realistic depiction of scenes and create art that feels more like dreams or a half-remembered event.

“By creating imaginative and surrealistic imagery, my paintings explore the perception of experiences, rather than just reality,” he said. “Imagination and memory melt together in a weave, bonding what is known and what is imagined to create personal truth.”

Conyers praised Dugan’s fantastic use of color, his handling of human figures and emotion, and his high degree of technical skill in his artistry. With such talent and ability, Conyers said that Dugan could make even mundane subjects engaging.

“Joel could do a painting of a banana and an apple next to each other and it would be incredible,” Conyers said.

“What I Wish I Would Have Known” is on display now in Friendship Hall on the campus of McPherson College and will be up through Sept. 22. The public is also invited to a closing reception that evening, currently planned to begin at 7 p.m.

More pictures of Dugan’s work and information about him is available at www.joeltdugan.com.

Posted On: August 16, 2016
By: MC Admin

Take a close look at the 2016-2017 McPherson College theatre season, and a particular detail may jump out that speaks to the quality of the shows.

Every single script was written by a Tony Award winner – the most prestigious award in the realm of theatre.

The season will include “Well” by Lisa Kron, “Blithe Spirit” by Noël Coward, “Godspell” with music by Stephen Schwartz and book by John-Michael Tebelak, “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf” by Ntozake Shange, “Barefoot in the Park” by Neil Simon, and the Kansas premiere of “Love and Information” by Caryl Churchill.

Dr. Rick Tyler, professor of speech and theatre, and Jd. Bowman, associate professor of theatre, said the lineup is notable not only because of the prestige of the shows’ creators, but also because of a unifying theme of “family.”

“When we look at the theme of ‘family,’ we are also looking at our own participation in a family structure,” Bowman said. “How do we each play our own part in our ‘families’?”

“Godspell,” for example, talks about spiritual families. “Well” and “Love and Information” look at how individuals contribute to the definition of family, and “for colored girls…” considers how to define family.

To see all the shows, experience a special a student-produced dinner before each performance that is themed to the production, and to receive advance notice of other performance events through the year, theatergoers will want to consider a First Nighter’s Membership.

A membership costs $75 for an individual, $150 for a double membership and $225 for a family membership and provides critical support for high-quality performances at McPherson College.

Kicking off the season is “Well” showing in Mingenback Theatre Sept. 8-10. The play premiered in 2004 Off-Broadway with the playwright – Lisa Kron – portraying herself in a story about her mother’s chronic illness and issues of health on a personal and community level. The work breaks the conventions of theater, with the performers frequently breaking out of character to comment on the play itself. Of course, the college’s performance will go to a new level of “meta” art because an actor will be playing Kron, playing herself.

Up next is the college’s Homecoming production of “Blithe Spirit” in Brown Auditorium Oct. 7-8 and 14-15. The classic comedy from the 1940s follows Charles Condomine – a novelist who invites a medium to conduct a séance at his home, hoping to gather material for his next book. The attempt goes better – and worse – than Charles had planned, as the séance successfully summons his deceased first wife. She, in turn, attempts to wreck his marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who can’t see the ghost.

The only musical on the season’s lineup is the popular retelling of the Gospel of Matthew – “Godspell” showing in Mingenback Theatre Nov. 17-19. First performed in 1971, the MC performance will use the 2011 Broadway revival book, for which Stephen Schwartz revisited the work – creating new arrangements, making some changes to lyrics, and reworking instrumentation and musical keys. Songs range from deeply emotional ballads to a silly softshoe number to sultry nightclub blues. The casting scheme is also unique – with only the part of Jesus remaining constant. Apart from that, one actor starts by portraying John the Baptist and turns to become Judas Iscariot by the end and everyone else is part of an ensemble.

The first performance of 2017 will be “for colored girls..” in Mingenback Theatre on Feb. 2-4, and should prove an interesting challenge – not only for the actors but also for audiences. The cast calls for seven African-American women who are identified in the play only by the colors of the rainbow that they wear – Red, Blue, Purple, Yellow, Brown, Green and Orange. Rather than a traditional plot, the performance is in the form of “Choreopoetry” – a blending of poetry, dance and music. The poems’ subjects are challenging and difficult – including rape, abortion and domestic violence. The original 1976 production on Broadway received the Tony Award for Best Play and was adapted into a book, a television movie, and a theatrical film.

Contrasting that heavier material will be a wild and bawdy comedy – Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park” showing in Brown Auditorium on March 10-11. A favorite with audiences for decades, the show was nominated for three Tony Awards in 1964 when it premiered. The quintessential “bedroom farce,” the play follows Corie and Paul Bratter – a newlywed couple in New York City just moving into their first apartment. Corie is a free spirit who tries – to comedic effect – to get her more straight-laced husband to loosen up… to traipse shoeless through the park.

The final performance will be a special treat for Kansas audiences, as it’s the first production of the unique “Love and Information” in the state. Showing in Mingenback Theatre April 20-22, it’s unlikely this show will be seen anywhere else afterward, either – at least, not in the same way as on the McPherson College stage. That’s by design. Caryl Churchill wrote “Love and Information” so that there are five sections, each consisting of multiple scenes that may be performed in any order, which opens up tremendous flexibility by allowing the scenes within each section to be re-arranged however a particular director desires. Churchill also includes a number of short vignettes that may be dropped into the play at any point… or not used at all. The arrangement of these vignettes can dramatically change their meaning. The ensemble cast portrays more than 100 different characters – often of vague gender and with the potential for actors to play multiple characters… or for multiple actors to play the same character. In scenes that rarely extend more than a few minuses, the work explores flawed and beautiful relationships and personal communication.

All shows start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to all shows cost $5 for adults and $3.50 for children ages high school and younger as well as seniors. Reservations may be made by contacting the theatre box office at 620-242-0444 or at [email protected].

See Performing Arts event calendar.

Posted On: May 12, 2016
By: MC Admin

A mysterious fishing tackle box, eyes that are truly windows to the soul, and an unusual number of tentacles are some of the highlights of the final McPherson College senior exhibition now on display.

The annual senior exhibitions are an opportunity for graduating MC seniors in visual arts to show their work from across their college career. Currently about 150 pieces are on display from Jasmine Regehr. McPherson, Kan.; Michael Ramos, Sachse, Texas; Bailley McKinley, Derby, Kan.; Ste’fon Walker, Mendenhall, Miss.; Nathan Holthus, McPherson, Kan.; and Melicia Foster, McPherson, Kan.

Regehr included a number of works in the exhibition that tended to feature squid-like tentacles emerging from objects that truly shouldn’t have them – an owl, a songbird, a clay pot. She majored in both the studio and graphic design tracks at in the department and said that learning about graphic design has proven a challenge for her. She tends to prefer a brush in hand, she said, and found herself more perfectionistic when doing graphic art. She also notices art more in the everyday.

“I find that I’m a lot more aware of everything in my surroundings,” she said. “It’s a completely new feeling to be aware of all the creative ideas that are out there, as well as the ones that are waiting to be discovered.”

Walker, who is displaying multiple examples of his sharp, clean graphic design, said he developed during his education and will continue to do so.

“As a graphic designer, I am in a constant state of growth,” he said. “I am growing as an artist and also as a person.”

One wall of the exhibition hall may appear to be staring back at the observer, thanks to a number of large charcoal drawings by Ramos. Each is an extreme view of an eye, with some scene reflected in its center.

“I am very fascinated by the human eye and it amazes me how something so small can survey a world that is so large,” he said. “The iris captures everything a person goes through. Imagine being able to look in a person’s eye and see exactly what that person has seen and been through.

He said the interpretation of each piece is up to the viewer.

“Some may see tragedy. Some may see love. Some may see fear,” he said, “but it all is based on what the viewer is thinking and feeling.”

The section for Bailley McKinley’s art includes a variety of ceramic pieces but is dominated by three huge oil paintings – each a portrait completed in a different monochrome scheme. McKinley said each painting depicts a different individual she knows in real life, who encountered and influenced each other like the ripples on a pond.

“Every time we interact with each other, our ripples are transformed,” she said. “I believe these interactions change the course of our journey that lies ahead.”

The senior exhibition will continue through May 15 in Friendship Hall on the McPherson College campus, and will include with a public reception for the seniors on Friday, May 13, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Quicklinks

Category: Campus Events

Father, Daughter to Speak on Church’s Role at End of Life for Religious Heritage Lecture at MC

Weird, Wonderful Fun (And… Shh… Learning) Offered at McPherson College’s ‘Behavior Mania’

Jazz Festival at McPherson College to Involve Whole Community

Inaugural Performance of Lingenfelter Artist Series At McPherson College Fills Theatre with Attendees

McPherson College Football Remembers Student Assistant Coach at Sept. 17 Game

Inaugural Performance of Lingenfelter Artist Series At McPherson College Features Pianist Stephen Beus

Homecoming 2016

Join us for Homecoming Weekend October 14-16, 2016

Alumni class reunions for 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011. Special reunion for Track & Field/Cross Country and an open house for the 40^th Anniversary for Auto Restoration.

Opening Art Exhibition at McPherson College Features Engaging, Surrealistic Paintings of Joel T. Dugan

McPherson College Presents Theatre Season Written Entirely by Tony-Award Winning Playwrights

McPherson College Seniors in Art Present Final Exhibition

Quicklinks

Join us for Homecoming Weekend October 14-16, 2016

Alumni class reunions for 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011. Special reunion for Track & Field/Cross Country and an open house for the 40th Anniversary for Auto Restoration.

Alumni class reunions for 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011. Special reunion for Track & Field/Cross Country and an open house for the 40^th Anniversary for Auto Restoration.