This weekend, the Senior Art Shows will kick off with an opening reception in the Hershberger Art Gallery from 2-4 pm. This first set of senior art will be on display from March 20-30, with following Senior Art Shows running April 3-13, and April 17 -27.

Senior Andrea Kraybill will be one of the featured artists, with silk painting and enameling on display. Of the experience, she says it’s a great opportunity and she feels honored. “It’s like birthing a baby,” says Kraybill.

Other exhibitors in this first show are Orion Blaha, sculpture; Tiffany Dull, watercolor and ink; Jordan Kauffman, graphic design and sculpture; Breanna Daugherty, printmaking; and SaeJin Lee, watercolor.

Many of these seniors have been working, or at least thinking about what they wanted to do, since their first years here. Kraybill laughed and said, “I’ve been preparing my whole life!”

She added that she really started focusing on this recently.

Kraybill said, “To have almost three months to completely dive into making art–with the support of teachers, friends, and family and the use of a studio–is a privilege. I’ve learned through experimenting, and tested what I’m capable of. Instead of burning me out (other than a messy room and less sleep than desired lately), it gets me excited about what I could do next.”

She added that her play with watercolors and painting when she was a child definitely impacted her desire to pursue art in college.

Tiffany Dull said that the real work for the artwork in this show began for her last year. According to Dull, she knew that she wanted to work with fabric, and started experimenting with it. She said, “I tried to learn the basics of quilting and sewing and combine that with what I had already been taught by my own family when I was younger.”

Like many college students, Kraybill doesn’t know exactly what she wants to do after college. She may be spending the next two to three years as an International Worker with the Mennonite Mission Network in London. Regardless of where she is, Kraybill hopes to incorporate art into her life—whether that be through creative ways to involve arts in diverse community or involving art in ministry.

Dull’s work incorporates fabric into her artwork, something she had never thought of using outside of crafts. She says that her artwork focuses on the woman’s capability to be both strong and weak, good and bad, natural and mechanical, and influenced by both past and present.

Dull said, “My work is very personal to me. It depicts the way I see the world and how I interpret it. It’s very exciting to have others look at it.”

Kraybill hopes that many connected to the Goshen College community will take the opportunity to see the artwork of GC seniors.

She said, “It’s fun to see an eclectic mix of styles and mediums—this first show has bouncy sculptures, interactive pulleys, dreamcatchers-made-modern, cows on butcher paper… and so much more. And the talent on display is amazing.”