Upcoming - Bachelor of Arts (BFA) Exhibitions
Fall 2022
December 5-9, 2022
Kansas State University Department of Art will present the first of two BFA Exhibitions of the fall semester featuring Kessa Bondurant, Matthew Zeleskey, and Dylan Connell. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from December 5 through 9, 2022 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 9, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.
Painter Kessa Bondurant of Shawnee, Kansas, makes colorful portraits in oil. Her portraits include self-portraits as well as borrowing from images she took of her family and friends. Her paintings show the process of observation through the layering of paint on top of itself, and prolonged investigations of the subject.
Matthew Zeleskey is a metalsmith from Apex, North Carolina who makes flora and fauna
through casting and hammer forming. His sculptures hope to evoke a sense of wonder and
discovery of the natural world. “I wanted to replicate the beauty of nature and the sense of
discovery we can get when observing the natural world.” His sculptures are hand carved and
cast to imitate the natural world.
Photographer Dylan Connell of Salina, Kansas, makes black-and-white portraits of the minority
laborers from the Smithfield meatpacking factory located in Junction City, Kansas. The
individuals are depicted with a lack of expression to represent his own loss of creativity due
to exhaustion and lack of human interaction while working at Smithfield.
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.
December 12-16, 2022
Kansas State University Department of Art will present the second of two BFA Exhibitions of the fall semester featuring Katie Laddish and Stephanie Straub. The artists will showcase an exhibition of their undergraduate artwork from December 12 through 16, 2022 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 16, from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.
Katie Laddish, a ceramicist from Kansas City, Missouri, combines traditional hand building and wheel throwing techniques to create her unique pieces. She pushes the boundaries of what is considered a typical planter by adding chains of clay and creating interesting forms to allow movement and flow on the pots themselves. She says, “I love to create planters you want to look at, touch, be able to move around, and are just as pleasing to look at as the plant itself.”
Stephanie Straub is a ceramicist and painter from Olathe, Kansas. She creates large ceramic
sculptures and paints still life and landscapes. The use of light in her work and the desire to
make it its own subject, either through a device or high value contrast, symbolize a deeper
presence and provide a sense of hope. “I have noticed this concept becoming present through the expression or feeling of transition and the in-between state of something,” she says. “I feel it gives a push and pull kind of effect and nature to the piece.” By using clay, a material derived from the constantly changing earth, and paint with every detailed, layered brushstroke, she actively portrays a greater presence amongst the transition of life.
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.