School of Art and Design
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Item Open Access CTRL + ©(East Carolina University, May 2025) Estes, ParkerCopyright law pervades the decision making of all creative mediums in the contemporary global economy. Rather than existing as a mechanism for protecting individual creators, this current system of copyright priviledges large corporations and effectively flattens the cultural landscape by enclosing upon the public domain, restricts free cultural exchange, and narrows creative decision making. This paper and exhibition makes the argument for a critical evaluation of the current global system of copyright, primarily as driven by U.S. copyright law, and discusses the design theories and research methods behind the creation of the exhibition: CTRL + ©.Item Open Access Physical Fables: Exploring Personal Narrative Through Ceramic Sculpture(East Carolina University, May 2025) Mcelroy, HaleyI have always enjoyed getting lost in a story: either reading a book, watching a movie or television story, or constructing ceramic physical fables. Throughout my creative research I have explored the transition from the grotesque to narrative based sculpture. I delved into personal experiences, reflecting on childhood memories through an adult’s mindset. Studio exploration coincided with researching the history of narrative based ceramics and prolific ceramicists to see how my artistic predecessors navigate their personal myths. I used tents, toys, and fish to evoke my personal narratives. I juxtapose reality with the surreal, reflecting on personal experiences. I blur the lines between truth and fantasy, creating a new narrative with new nuances thus creating physical fables.Item Open Access Leveraging Virtual Reality for Pedagogical Innovation: A Case Study of a 3D Heart Model for Anatomical Education(2025-03-31) Garrett Clayton MooreTraditional anatomical models and textbook depictions have long been fundamental to medical education, providing accurate representations of human anatomy. These tools effectively convey structural details and remain essential in foundational training. However, their static nature limits exploration of complex physiological processes and spatial relationships, particularly in dynamic systems like the human heart. This study aims to enhance medical education by developing an interactive 3D model of the human heart within a virtual reality (VR) environment through: • Creating a High-Fidelity, Interactive 3D Model of the Human Heart • Enhancing Spatial and Anatomical Comprehension • Simulating Dynamic Cardiac Functions and Physiological Processes • Improving Learning Outcomes and Knowledge Retention • Supporting Medical Diagnosis Training through Interactive Simulations • Providing Interactive Learning EnvironmentsItem Open Access Understanding the Use of Emerging Technology in the Middle School Art Classroom(East Carolina University, December 2024) Murphy, Aleix KobieThis study explores the use of emerging technology in middle school art classrooms. It is intended to assist the Wake County Public School System’s Middle School Professional Learning Community identify where their members most need support accessing resources and guidance for emerging technology integration. The research methods included a survey and an interview. A sample size represented the middle school art teachers within the county. 22 teachers completed the survey, and two were interviewed. The participating art teachers gave insights into factors that influence their perspectives of technology integration and opinions on the support received from the professional learning community and school system. Art teachers indicated a need for technology-oriented professional development opportunities, the facilitation of technology training to promote digital citizenship for their students, potential collaborations between art and career and technical education departments, and funding for both installations and maintenance of technologies. Overall, the findings highlighted the need for increased guidance and support from the professional learning community and school system to help teachers integrate technology effectively into their art classrooms.Item Open Access 77%(East Carolina University, December 2024) Boone, TamlaReflecting on my visits to sculptural exhibitions worldwide, I often observe a portrayal of a specific population characterized by features like pointed noses, straight hair, and predominantly pink or beige skin tones. While undeniably lovely, I question whether there exists a broader spectrum of beauty that could be showcased in these displays—a form of Non-traditional Beauty. My concept of beauty transcends conventional norms and embraces what is typically viewed as different, unattractive, or even awkward by societal standards—the "Uns." I challenge the perception that pink skin is the epitome of beauty and ponder why unique characteristics like crooked teeth, distinctive scars, colored skin, and unconventional body shapes are not celebrated in art. True artistry lies in the willingness to take risks and explore the unconventional. In my thesis, I cultivate a space where diverse forms of beauty are celebrated through a dynamic allure of authenticity and especially children, should see themselves reflected in museum settings. I hope to awaken a deeper appreciation for the multifaceted beauty that exists in every individual—the awakening of true beauty in the eye of the beholder.Item Open Access Tic: exploring Tourette syndrome with analog photography(East Carolina University, December 2024) Brewer, Katelyn LuxTourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary movements and vocalizations known as tics, which can significantly affect the daily lives of those diagnosed. This work explores the historical and contemporary perceptions of Tourette Syndrome, highlighting the misconceptions within the medical community and culture broadly. Beginning with an examination of the first documented descriptions of the syndrome, the research delves into the stigmatization of individuals with Tourette’s, linking past misunderstandings to modern portrayals in media. I employ a Diana F+ camera to express the emotional and physical complexities of living with Tourette Syndrome. Through analog photography, I embrace the imperfections of both the medium and the condition itself. This artistic endeavor seeks to promote dialogue and understanding of Tourette Syndrome, advocating for greater awareness and support for individuals affected by it.Item Open Access Blending Lines: Interactive Experiences with Arab Culture(East Carolina University, December 2024) Abdalla, Amal A.This thesis examines the integration of Islamic geometric patterns and traditional Kufic calligraphy into contemporary interactive design. The work highlights the historical and cultural significance of Islamic geometric patterns as a cornerstone of Arab identity while exploring the intellectual and spiritual depth embodied by traditional Kufic calligraphy. By bridging Arab cultural heritage with modern design practices, the work seeks to foster audience engagement and increase awareness of this rich culture and history. Designed to engage diverse audiences with Arab culture through traditional and contemporary approaches, the thesis culminates in an immersive experience that blends physical and digital installations. The physical installations are comprised of three hand-crafted wooden geometric motifs integrated with Kufic calligraphy written by macrame cords. The wood and cotton cords demonstrate the Arab appreciation of natural materials, as nature has been the primary source of inspiration in the Arab world. The digital installations complement this by using projection, light, and patterns to display large-scale graphics on an adjacent wall. With ultrasonic sensors and a Raspberry Pi, the installation creates an interactive experience where digital projections respond to visitors' movements through the space by shifting colors and patterns. This interaction is crucial; as learning evolves through participation and reinterpretation, this exhibition aims to engage people similarly. Through this research, the thesis underscores the power of design as a medium for education and cultural connection, mainly as it generates connections between tradition and innovation.Item Open Access A Call for a Culturally Responsive Visual Arts Scorecard Framework(East Carolina University, July 2024) Burwell, Leslie ArnoldABSTRACT This study sought to discover the need for a Culturally Responsive and Sustaining (CR-S) Art Education Framework as an effective tool to help educators build language and support toward a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive art education in North Carolina. A survey was sent to visual art educators across North Carolina. The research methods utilized a Likert survey, an adapted NYU Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education (CRSE) Digital STEAM Scorecard, and an interview. A small sample size was geographically representative of regions across the state. Seventy-one participants completed the survey, and five were interviewed. Visual art educators rated their satisfaction with the guidance they receive for using CR-S current teacher materials and resources across North Carolina using the scoring guide. Participants indicated a need for improved guidance on using the NYU Metro Digital CRSE Steam Scoring Guide to use CR-S teaching materials. Areas selected as problematic included how to design lessons or engage in conversations that use art to disrupt power inequities in educator materials and resources, how to combat the legacy of arts education-related trauma amongst historically marginalized communities, and appropriately using Indigenous and non-Western resources. The findings expressed a need for guidance around CR-S. Further analysis using a complete scorecard and utilizing all stakeholders for future studies would be valuable to visual art education in North Carolina.Item Open Access Beyond the Folds: Emergent Properties in Paper(East Carolina University, 2023-04-28) Rhodes-Pruitt, JohnIn this body of work I explore the relationship between visual art, information science, and the geometry of paper in an attempt to create a unique visual language with which I make records; not unlike writing in a journal. Using cyanotype, origami, drawing, and digital techniques I co-opt the language of computers (binary) to represent aspects of myself in paper form, blending the analog and digital into a distinctive way of communicating. The work is informed by my understanding of Constructor Theory, Information Theory, and Quantum Mechanics with which I draw thematic comparisons between the fundamental nature of who I am with the fundamental nature of the universe.Item Open Access The Legend of Ayon: A Sculptural Monomyth(East Carolina University, 2023-04-28) Prevette, ThaddeusThe Legend of Ayon is a sculptural representation of a hero's journey into a world of the unknown, then returning victorious after overcoming trials and tribulations. My research depicts my fascination with fantasies originating from ancient historical myths and combining them with modern mythology. I view the various forms of modern media, film being one example, as this era's mythologies. Ayon is a warrior pursuing a monster, who overcomes the trials of the wilderness and the unknown world and is guided towards a realization that community is stronger together than fractured. For me, these sculptural vessels, dragons, and objects have become a therapeutic process by using a variety of materials to fabricate a body of work that invokes a sense of permanence, structural integrity, and tranquility.Item Open Access River Rat(East Carolina University, 2023-04-21) Zichettella, Morgan WilliamsThe marsh; what is it about this brackish, swamp-like area that is so attractive? This environment emanates gnarly gases, is filled with death and erosion, yet has a thriving and resilient ecosystem. I began to wonder what would happen if I used the water from the areas I am photographing—if the water in the image was tied to its creation. Could the salt print process provide the connection between the concept and process I had been searching for? River Rat, a series of river water salt print photographs, depicts a glimpse of life in this complicated environment and the peace it brings to my mind and soul. Sitting on the dock to cool off from the sweltering hot sun, enjoying the bounty from a long day on the water, and how the vast openness of the water is so restless and beyond comprehension that it simultaneously makes one feel insignificant and integral to the greater web of the world. The hidden beauty of the back rivers, the secret hideaways, the elusiveness of the land that is only accessible during certain tides; the water connects and provides for this ecosystem in such a way that feels sacred to me.Item Open Access Immortal Bodies: Preserving Connections Through Objects and Rituals(East Carolina University, 2023-04-27) Hesson, NicholasThe human body is often treated as a temple, where even after death the treatment of the physical body displays its value and identity. Using inspiration from reliquaries, burials, and mourning jewelry, the objects that I create become a pathway to history as well as a manifestation of people's spirits. I create enameled urns that personify different characteristics of people by using color, form, and shape to convey the personality of whomever it would hold. In doing so I explore modern societal values surrounding death and the various mourning practices that those values encompass. The visual language I use to explore the abstract forms in my work is inspired by my long-held fascination with anatomical illustrations and human anatomy. I utilize traditional metal forming techniques and digital fabrication processes to produce these objects. The various methods serve to create a diverse lexicon of forms that would be impossible to create otherwise. I develop the surface of each object using vitreous enamel and patina to create a color, pattern, and imagery. Great care, intent, and labor is put into each vessel to make them unique and create a deep and meaningful connection between vessel and viewer.Item Open Access Assembly Required(East Carolina University, 2023-04-27) Naimo, AnthonyAssembly Required is a narrative-driven project using found objects to explore themes of imagination, community, impermanence, and reinvention. The artworks encapsulated within this research are fabricated almost entirely using waste-materials: rusted metallic oddities, mildewed comic books, and found images. An alternate future is imagined using the materials of yesterday. This is a found-future setting which celebrates a scrappiness and ingenuity in people to think our way out of the impossible. I illustrate how all things exist in a cultural cycle of rising and falling value - and reflect on people's ability to enact alchemical exchange upon these material meanings to fabricate exquisite, new realities.Item Open Access Neotype: Replace what is lost(East Carolina University, 2023-04-26) Christensen, Tim"Neotype: Replace what is lost" is a photographically based project aimed at exploring the intersection of Art and Science by using historical photographic techniques to celebrate and memorialize our insect partners. This thesis documents the development of the artist/scientist as he creates different bodies of work during his MFA. The final exhibition centers on the questions of how we know the world and creates a ritual that asks the observer to engage with insects as both objects of wonder and as creatures that are disappearing from our rapidly changing world.Item Open Access Fish Dreams(East Carolina University, 2023-04-27) Graves, KarenaIn my family, when women dream of fish, it symbolizes that a family member or close friend is pregnant. Based on our cultural background as African Americans, our interpretation of our dreams is how we share and pass down stories within our traditions. My aim for this research and creative activity is to bring my voice as an African American woman into the conversation of dream research, which at times is not only dominated by a white male perspective but a white male perspective occupying space in the discussion of African American dream analysis. This series of artwork contains sculptural assemblages and woven textiles that express different imagery of the fish dream. The artworks are based on interviews with the matriarchs of my family that have experienced fish dreams: Sirena Manuel (mother), Elecia Satterfield (aunt), and Bernice Graves (grandmother). Interviewing my family, allows me to document the oral history of their experiences with the fish dream.Item Open Access Exploring Online Art Education: Multi-Institutional Perspectives and Practices(2022-09) Song, Borim; Lim, KyungeunHow can art educators transmit their passion and enthusiasm for art teaching and learning to cultivate human potential in the virtual classroom? As a collective case study focusing on our online undergraduate courses, this research examines how two instructors used instructional methods and technologies, and how their students responded to their pedagogical endeavors. Qualitative content analysis was utilized. Virtual art classes can encourage students to look into themselves and become more aware of themselves. Communicating and feeling connected to others are critical for students in online settings. As demonstrated in our course design, connectivity between students and instructors can be facilitated through a multi-layered structure, providing for more efficient communication. This study also found blurred boundaries between real and virtual learning environments. When we facilitate fluidity and conceptual flexibility as online art educators, digital technologies may expand our thinking and expression frameworks.Item Open Access Art as Radical Act: Teenagers Revisit Diversity and Social Justice through JR’s Giant Baby(2022-08-22) Song, BorimIn this article I share ways that I have used the artworks of contemporary artists to encourage middle school students to reflect on the concepts of diversity and social justice. This paper describes my use of an artwork called “Kikito (Tecate, Mexico-USA, 2017),” a work in the Giant series by a French artist JR. When I shared images of this artwork with students, the participating teenagers discussed this public art piece verbally as well as through texting via social media. They then created artworks based on their reflections. Although the quality of student outcomes varied in both the text-based discussions and drawing activity, they clearly showed that the Giant Baby project and JR’s stories deeply engaged the students in a critical examination of the U.S./Mexico relationship and sparked their interest in the role of the visual arts as a source of social justice and systematical change.Item Open Access Anti-Asian Racism and Racial Justice in the Classroom(2022) Shin, Ryan; Bae, Jaehan; Song, BorimThis article discusses the urgent issues and concerns about anti-Asian racism in our society and provides several pedagogical strategies to counter anti-Asian racism. We begin by discussing the history and context of anti-Asian racism in the US, from which we trace the historical origins and contexts of anti-Asian racism, violence, and stereotypes in popular culture and media. After that, we share several anti-Asian racism teaching strategies and practices, drawn from and influenced by the creative artworks of Asian contemporary artists such as Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, and Monyee Chau, who demonstrate subverting racism against Asians during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Finally, after engaging our students in anti-Asian racism lessons, we share their art projects and written testimonials about anti-Asian racism. As a result, we strongly encourage educators to use, in their art curriculum, both history and contemporary artworks by artists to address anti-Asian racism and social justice.Item Open Access Alone Together? Fighting Student Isolation in Online Art Education(2022-07) Song, BorimThe COVID-19 pandemic required most K-16 educators to transition to the realm of online education. Across the nation, a plethora of insights on new technologies, platforms, and secret tips for distance teaching have burgeoned. Yet one critical aspect seems be missing: our students. Aren’t they left out in these discussions? This essay recounts my personal journey as an art educator during the emergent culture of COVID-19. Sharing my stories and students’ reflections, I particularly focus on strategies to prevent student isolation within virtual art education and explain how to use synchronous and asynchronous methods to stay connected with the students.Item Open Access Isolation, Connection, and Embracement: Exploring Students’ Perspectives on Virtual Art Education During the Pandemic(2022-05) Song, Borim; Lim, KyungeunUtilizing storytelling, two art educators explore how their undergraduate students experienced the transition to online education after the outbreak of COVID-19. Three themes are examined based on the students’ reflections: 1) new characteristics of and experiences within virtual learning, 2) isolation and connection, and 3) embracement and adjustment. The participating students shared their course experiences, with regard to the changes in course design and structure made due to the abrupt transition to online instruction. The participating students felt some loneliness due to isolation and social distancing. They experienced multilayered connections purposefully made through learning communities, small groups, student pairs, and student-instructor communication using discussion boards, emails, group chat, personal webpages, and Canvas messages and feedback. We suggest that exchanging narratives about students’ learning and art making experiences helps educators build their own teaching communities and serves as a strategy to overcome challenges and develop resilience in uncertain times full of changes and transitions.