Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Exhibitions

Spring 2026

May 11- 15, 2026

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the second of two BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring semester featuring Layne McAfee, Laurel Beal, and Arly DeMata-Romero. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from May 11 through 15, 2026 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor of Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 8am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Please feel free to attend the reception with the artists on Friday evening, May 15, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

Poster for BFA Studio Exhibition May 11- 13th

Laurel Beal, a painter from Belleville, Kansas, delves into depicting the vibrancy and liveliness of landscapes based on places she has travelled to using oil pastels on panels. Her work entails “capturing” the essence of memories and the beauty of nature she experienced during her travels in her depicted works. She states that “when I work rendering landscapes, I see not only a scenic view, but a memory that I want to immortalize and cherish forever.”

Arly DeMata-Romero is a photographer from Kansas City. She will be receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in May 2026. With Latin origins, her current photographic work reflects not only her culture, but how her family dynamics have evolved over time as well as what her childhood was like growing up lower class. She enjoys documenting the authenticity of her life in order to connect with others who might feel negatively about their upbringing with the hope that they feel less alone knowing others have lived similar experiences.

Layne McAfee, a multidisciplinary artist from Winchester, Kansas, utilizes her work as a visual diary. Created solely from self-taken reference photographs, her work is a celebration of the small moments that make up a majority of our lived experience. “I capture an image if it hits me in my chest; it's a palpable feeling when the creation of a memory is involved.” Focusing on the emotional and tactile senses of creation, color and texture play a pivotal role in Layne’s practice.

The Mark A. Chapman Gallery on the first floor of Willard Hall, across from the art office, opened in 2005. Cheryl Mellenthin and Mark Chapman funded a complete renovation of the former Willard Hall Gallery, increasing the exhibition space to over 1,400 square feet along with 400 square feet dedicated to exhibition preparation and kitchen facilities. The Department of Art hosts BFA and MFA student exhibitions in the gallery as part of graduation requirements each semester. The technology friendly gallery serves not only exhibition purposes, but also provides a location for an active Visiting Artist lecture program.

May 4- 8, 2026

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the first of two BFA Thesis Exhibitions of the spring semester featuring Emery Brown, Lacie Kohman, and Logan Sprague. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from May 4 through 8, 2026 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor of Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 8am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Please feel free to attend the reception with the artists on Friday evening, May 8, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

Poster for BFA Exhibition from May 4-8, 2026

Emery Brown is an artist from Lincoln, Nebraska, who creates vibrant drawings and paintings. Their works are inspired by nature, often creating images that combine multiple plants or animals into one figure. They hope that their pieces will inspire other people to look at the world around them with a new, creative perspective. They try to invent creatures that could feasibly exist in a fantasy world, while still being based in reality through the life that inspires them.

Lacie Kohman is a printmaker from Salina, Kansas, whose primary process includes reductive linoleum relief and risograph prints. Through these techniques, the final product consists of colorful, multi-layer prints with different pop/comic art styles. “The process of printmaking felt like a door to exploration; every print is the product of that freedom from perfection and discovery through color.” The result of these prints reveals that exploration of color and working in those “Happy little accidents.”

Logan Sprague is an artist from Waterville, Kansas, specializing in photography, and secondarily drawing. His photos and drawings reflect his interest in black metal, philosophy, and horror through night scenery, flash, and evocative splatters and texture.

The Mark A. Chapman Gallery on the first floor of Willard Hall, across from the art office, opened in 2005. Cheryl Mellenthin and Mark Chapman funded a complete renovation of the former Willard Hall Gallery, increasing the exhibition space to over 1,400 square feet along with 400 square feet dedicated to exhibition preparation and kitchen facilities. The Department of Art hosts BFA and MFA student exhibitions in the gallery as part of graduation requirements each semester. The technology friendly gallery serves not only exhibition purposes but also provides a location for an active Visiting Artist lecture program.

April 23- May 1, 2026

Poster for VCD BFA 2026 Exhibition

The Kansas State University Department of Art will present the Visual Communication Design BFA Exhibition from April 23- May 1, 2026 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, in Willard Hall. A reception will be held from 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm on Friday, May 1st in the gallery. Events are free and open to the public.

Fall 2025

December 8- 15, 2025

Kansas State University Department of Art will present the BFA Thesis Exhibition for Fall semester featuring Stephanie Clearwater-Howard, Cricket Thurston, and Hayden Wells. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from December 8 through 15, 2025 in the Mark A. Chapman Gallery, first floor of Willard Hall. Gallery hours are 8am – 5pm, Monday through Friday. Please feel free to attend the reception with the artists on Friday evening, December 12, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.

poster of the 2025 BFA Senior Exhibition

Every piece in Stephanie Clearwater-Howard’s series was produced and shown in large sizes and bright colors. This work suggests that no color is inherently feminine or masculine. For example, while people might label green or blue as "boy" colors, pink and pastel shades often get tagged as "girl" colors. Stephanie intentionally challenged these associations when creating these works to free colors from gender limits. In this way, we underscore that gender expression is complex and should not be restricted by societal norms. Stephanie believes, “Art can spark conversations about the rich variety of human differences that go beyond the binary ideas of gender.” Ultimately, the work fosters a deeper understanding and appreciation of diversity.

Cricket Thurston is an artist from Manhattan, Kansas, making large colorful artworks on paper and canvas. Their work most often focuses on human figures experiencing distress; a reflection that embodies times of struggle in their life. They are driven to create strokes and fields of color that immerse those figures in the intense emotion felt in those times of struggle. They say, “The work attempts to show my subjective reactions to an objective reality.” Being able to throw their experiences onto paper and canvas to share with others in a wordless way is something that Cricket is endlessly grateful for.

Hayden Wells, an artist from Topeka, Kansas, makes large colored pencil drawings, primarily of portraits and other figural work. The scenes that he creates are lighthearted and colorful visualizations of both original and well-known stories. He typically enjoys incorporating humor into his work but recently has shifted his focus to religious themes. He says, “For me, the work serves as both a reminder of received love and sacrifice, and as a reminder to love and sacrifice in my own life.”