Students in the McPherson College Visual Arts Department are finding success this year in design competitions and in career opportunities. Students in the program recently brought home top awards again this year from the Wichita AIGA Student Portfolio Forum and from the Dallas Society of Visual Communications (DSVC) national student show and conference and one student was selected out of 700 applicants for a prestigious summer internship.
This summer, Chloe Cloud, a senior from Wichita, will work with Barkley Advertising in Kansas City, Missouri. Barkley is the largest independent advertising agency in Kansas City and the seventh largest independent agency in the United States. Its clients include Applebee’s, Cargill, Spirit Airlines, Russell Athletic, AMC Theatres, and many more. This was the first time that students from McPherson College applied for the internship opportunity.
This is also the first year that McPherson College students competed in the DSVC national student show. Six student projects were accepted into the show and Micah Gilbert, a junior from Elkhart, Indiana, received first place for his photography entry. Visual Arts students also competed at the AIGA annual student competition where college students have the opportunity to have their design portfolios reviewed by professionals in the industry. Students taking top awards there include:
- Italia Venegas, junior, Shawnee Mission, Kansas, first place, motion design
- Lillian Oeding, senior, Wichita, first place, web design
- Chloe Cloud, senior, Wichita, first place, best ad
- Jaden Hilgers, senior, Wichita, third place, overall portfolio
“We received great comments about our students at each of the design competitions,” Dee Erway-Sherwood, professor of graphic design and department chair of art and design, said. “We encourage the McPherson College design students to take part in competitions and design shows to network with industry professionals, which in some cases lead to internships and job opportunities. Not only are these great experiences for our students, but they are also highly competitive with students from schools across the country.”