Showcase 2025 highlights unique creative research
February 12, 2025
"Tipográficos" by Mario F Bocanegra Martinez
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When is art not just art?
When it’s creative scholarship, the academic work that combines traditional research methods with creative practices. This type of scholarship leads to original works of art, including literature, performances and functional objects, that emphasize innovation and the integration of scholarly inquiry.
While their research might not take place in a lab, faculty and students who practice creative scholarship are as engaged and devoted to their work as their academic counterparts in scientific fields. Auburn University’s Showcase 2025 is sharing this vibrant and important research with the campus community through two different exhibits. The first is an ongoing faculty show at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, which is open until July, and the second is an evening of exhibits and performances by faculty and students at the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center (GPAC) on Feb. 24.
Titled “Graduate and Undergraduate Student Creative Showcase + Performative Works Exhibition,” the GPAC show includes curated submissions from a wide range of disciplines, including those in the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Architecture, Design and Construction and the College of Human Sciences. However, visitors may be surprised to find the exhibit includes creative works from unexpected areas, including crop physiology, building science and forestry.
The GPAC exhibit will be open for just five days, so audiences will want to visit before Feb. 28. The faculty work displayed at the museum will remain on display until July 6.
Chris Molinski, the museum’s Janet L. Nolan Director of Curatorial and Educational Affairs, is happy to play a part in highlighting creative scholarship on campus.
“The museum is a place where research and experimentation can thrive, a place for active learning and teaching with objects,” he said. “Whether as part of a class or a casual visit, students who are exposed to creative scholarship gain unique insights into artistic and scholarly processes and critical thinking, enriching the Auburn Experience.”
Take a sneak peek at some of the unique submissions that can be seen on display at the museum and GPAC as part of Showcase 2025.
“Golden Afternoon,” by Sarah Prior, an undergraduate student in interior design in CHS. This lamp design transforms recycled materials into a functional and decorative bedroom fixture.
“Functional, Expressive, and Aesthetic Outdoor Jacket for Wheelchair Users” by Jia Wu, assistant professor in apparel design and production management in CHS. This work of art is a functional outdoor jacket for wheelchair users, guided by the Functional, Expressive and Aesthetic Consumer Needs Model.
“Crop Physiology,” by Alvaro Sanz-Saez, assistant professor in crop physiology in the College of Agriculture. This image is from a project that combines art and science through visualizations and photographs of experiments, such as microscopic images of leaves and X-rays of soils.
“The Year 2024: Dancing Above Water,” by Young-A Lee, professor and head of the Department of Consumer and Design Sciences in the College of Human Sciences. This artwork, inspired by the 2024 Year of the Dragon, combines digitally printed fabrics with 3D printed structures.
“G(s) < Ny/a, or The Reconstruction of Economics to Include Nature as an Ingredient,” by Devon Ward, assistant professor in graphic design in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction. This work exemplifies biodesign, a creative approach that integrates living organisms into the design process. Ward grew Brewer’s yeast on agar and exposed it to UV light for 48 hours to create a living print.
“Untitled,” by Robert Finkel, associate professor of graphic design in CADC. Inspired by the South’s vernacular graphic expressions, Finkel photographs old signs and advertisements that showcase a pragmatic and self-reliant form of communication, contrasting modern design practices.
“Untitled,” by Chuck Hemard, associate professor and chair of the Department of Art and Art History in CLA. In his recent photographs of horizonless water surfaces in Alabama’s Catfish Ponds, Hemard explores color as a formal element influenced by light, weather and seasonality.
“Woody's Last Laugh: Gone For All Seasons,” by Sara Gevurtz, assistant professor in art and art history in CLA. Gevurtz, who teaches animation, made this video about the iconic cartoon character, “Woody the Woodpecker,” who was modeled on the now likely extinct ivory-billed woodpecker formerly found in the southeastern United States. In the video, Woody is removed from his 1941 film “Pantry Panic.” Silence is left where Woody would have otherwise had dialogue, much like the silence left by the ivory-billed woodpecker’s probable extinction.
“UAV-Based ANN Classification of Brown Spot Needle Blight Severity,” by Swati Singh, a graduate student studying forestry in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. This colorful image was generated in part by drones equipped with multispectral cameras to detect Brown Spot Needle Blight disease in loblolly pine forests.
