Senior Art and Design Exhibition opens April 8 at AU’s Coburn Gallery

03/26/2021 ASHLAND, Ohio -- Each spring, the Ashland University Coburn Gallery hosts the Senior Art and Design Exhibition featuring the capstone experience for graduating art majors.

Bringing together artwork made by graduating seniors in the Department of Art and Design, the 2021 Senior Art and Design Exhibition will open Thursday, April 8 with an opening reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Coburn Art Gallery located in the Center for the Arts on the Ashland University campus. Social distancing will be practiced in the gallery, allowing groups of 10 or fewer at a time during the opening. Masks are required. The senior awards will be announced at 5:30 p.m. at the April 8 reception and on the gallery’s Facebook page.

“While the 2021 Senior Art Exhibition provides the capstone experience for graduating art and design majors, it represents more than just students’ studio art experiences,” said Cynthia Petry, director of the Coburn Gallery. “For these students of the liberal arts, the exhibition is the culmination of their undergraduate careers at Ashland University.”

This year’s exhibition will run through May 8 and will include graphic design, illustration, digital art and video.

Senior Art Exhibition artists are Noah Rau, Harlie Gregory, Taylor Mowry, Hannah Osborn, Tristan Peterman, Callandra Roddy and Aliya Ratliff.

Ratliff, from Tipp City, will be graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a concentration in Illustration. Aliya Ratliff graduated from Tippecanoe High School while simultaneously obtaining an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts from Sinclair Community College. Aliya Ratliff is the daughter of Sylvia Adams and has participated in the Art Club, as well as working for both the art department and AU recreational services. After graduating, she plans to continue making art focused in illustration.

Roddy will graduate with a BFA in Fine Art and a concentration in Digital Art and Illustration and a minor in Art History. Roddy is from Mount Liberty and graduated from Ohio Virtual Academy. While attending Ashland University, she had the opportunity to work with the AU Theatre Department freshman year and the Coburn Art Gallery for the rest of her stay. Roddy’s artworks have been displayed in the Annual Juried Student Exhibitions three years in a row and won the Drawing Award in spring of 2018, the Bernini Award in the spring of 2020 and most recently, the AU Permanent Collection Award. With her degree, she plans to continue making illustrative and digital works and is contemplating furthering her education with graduate school.

Osburn will graduate from Ashland University with a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Art with a concentration in Graphic Design with a minor in Religion. She is from Chatham, where she lives with her father, Steve, her mother, Heather, and her brother, Steven. She is a graduate of Cloverleaf High School and the Medina County Career Center where she learned under the instruction of Ron Kostechak about printing, pre-press, offset press, silk screen printing, and graphic design. During her three years at Ashland, Osburn’s work has been exhibited in the Juried Student Art Exhibition multiple times and has been awarded the Dean’s Award, the Alumni “Wink” Award, and the Bernini Award. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other circumstances, Osburn chose to do classes remotely for the remainder of her schooling. Because of this, she was not able to be as active on campus as she would have liked to be. However, she was able to go on a mission trip with campus ministry to Tennessee and an educational trip to Israel before the pandemic. Hannah also was an intern for OneIT, the Medina County Career Center and Vinyl Marketing, where she participated in a variety of design work  and learning experiences. She plans to continue graphic design by finding a full-time position in the Columbus area after graduation.

Gregory, from Cambridge, will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Art with a concentration in Graphic Design and a minor in Marketing. She is the youngest child of Janie Jackson and Frank Gregory. Gregory attended John Glenn High School, where she graduated with an Honors Diploma. At Ashland, she is an active member of FCA and is a part of a worship team. Gregory received the Outstanding Junior of the Year award for the Art Department. She has also been a part of three Juried Student Art & Design Exhibitions. Gregory gained an internship the summer of 2020 that allowed her to better understand the field and improve her skills. She is extremely thankful to be able to have the opportunities she’s had here, including an art department trip to New York City to view world-renowned works.

Noah Rau grew up in Tiffin. With a mom gifted in sculpting and a dad who often painted landscapes, he was raised seeing art constantly. Sure enough, he grew to have a passion for art, and his art was frequently shown in school art shows. Though Rau always wanted to have an art-related career, it was in high school that he realized he wanted to pursue a career as a graphic designer. He was accepted into Ashland University in the fall of 2016, and began his first semester the following fall. Aside from graphic design, Rau developed a love for film making in college, while making music videos and short videos. After graduating, he wants to continue his career as a graphic designer while also improving his craft in painting and film making.

Mowry, from Bellville, will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Commercial Art and a minor in Marketing. She has displayed artwork in the Juried Student Art + Design Exhibitions as well as serving as the Art Club marketing chairman (2018-2019) and vice president (2019-2021). In 2018, she began her photography journey alongside BLBishop Photography. She works with Bertha Bishop of Mansfield capturing weddings and as her assistant when needed for studio photos, show events and editing. Mowry had the opportunity to view famous works in New York City. In 2020, she would’ve traveled to Italy with students in the art department, but the pandemic made it impossible. Although life was forced to be on stand-still as she was transitioning into her senior year, she worked closely with Applied Graphics in Mansfield for a short period of time considering the fast spread of the virus. She will continue to work with BLBishop Photography as an assistant and hopes to resume with Applied Graphics after graduation. 

Peterman is from Canton, and will graduate with a bachelor's degree in Commercial Art and a minor in Theater. He is the son of Ryan and Tressa Peterman. While attending AU, he has been a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity as well as the Theater honorary, Alpha Psi Omega. He was awarded the Honorable Mention Award in the 2019 Student Exhibition. After college, he is going to stay in Ohio in order to decide his next move.

The Coburn Gallery is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and noon-4 p.m. weekends. Gallery admission is free and open to the public. COVID-19 safety protocols include a maximum of 15 visitors in the gallery at one time, and groups no larger than five, and face masks must be worn at all the times on the Ashland University campus. For more information about the exhibition, call 419-289-5652 or find the gallery on Facebook.

Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) offers each of its student constituencies The Ashland Promise, including “teaching students how to think, not what to think”. Committed to affordability, the University now offers incoming residential freshman the Tuition Relief Scholarship, as well as a variety of new forms of financial assistance for both new and continuing students. ###