Studio art major Ava Bartels prepares for senior art show

Senior studio art major Ava Bartels is preparing to wrap up her studies at Concordia University, Nebraska and will be hosting her senior art show on March 29. 

The exhibition will be conducted in Concordia’s Marxhausen Gallery from 1 – 4 p.m., and Bartels will give a talk explaining the artwork at 2 p.m. Refreshments will be offered. 

The show features a series of 10 oil paintings that depict different heavily relied upon, worn down, easily forgotten objects. Bartels’ goal was to turn these items into paintings to showcase their innate beauty despite their state of familiarity. 

“By turning these objects into oil paintings, my hope is that the objects themselves will be seen as important and beautiful, despite their familiarity,” she said. “The result is a series of  vibrant, nostalgic paintings" 

When Bartels began her education at Concordia, she was committed to producing exclusively graphite drawings and hyper realistic art. However, with the encouragement of professors, she was able to broaden her abilities and now operates in art and digital art, with her main focus being concept art. 

“My art professors never put me in a box,” she said. “At first, I only liked to draw. But then I had to take a few graphic design, multimedia, art history and othercourses that pushed me out of my comfort zone, and exposing me to various styles and methods of making art.” 

Bartels said that Concordia’s professors are one of the things that make the institution stand out when compared with other, larger universities. She noted that the smaller class sizes enhance the quality of relationships that students build with their professors, and help students to receive quality, concrete and timely feedback on their work.  

"When designing this show, I wanted to make people stop and think about the beauty that’s to be discovered in the familiar, boring parts of their lives. By turning them into oil paintings, my hope is the objects themselves will be seen as important and beautiful, despite their familiarity.”

Another unique aspect of the university that Bartels talked about was the clear faithful identity of the school.  

“I’d say that the interweaving of prayers and Bible verses throughout class periods has actually helped me [develop my faith] the most. It’s easy to remember Jesus when you’re in a chapel. But less commonly do you hear about the Lord while working on schoolwork,” she said. 

While Bartels does not have a specific position in mind, she plans to pursue a career in the art field after her graduation in May. She says that she feels equipped for a wide range of potential job opportunities because of her education at Concordia.  

“I’m always going to be a fine artist and illustrator no matter what job position I achieve,” she said. “I’ll always be doing commissioned artwork, applying for museum exhibitions, and I’m actually illustrating a children’s book at the moment. Overall, the most important aspect of my career is that I stay focused on human creativity and design.” 

Bartels has one younger sister. In her free time, she enjoys playing video games, which stimulates her love for concept art and visual development. She also enjoys spending time studying photography and history.  

“If I’ve learned anything about art, it’s that artistic beauty can’t be determined solely by the subject matter. It’s up to the artist to find and bring forth the aestheticthat they’re portraying, the subject is secondary.” said Bartels about her studies at Concordia. 

See more of Bartels’ work at @avaa.draws on Instagram 

Concordia University, Nebraska, founded in 1894, is a fully accredited, coeducational university of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod located in Seward, Nebraska, which currently serves more than 1,700 students. Concordia offers more than 100 undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in an excellent academic and Christ-centered community that equips men and women for lives of learning, service and leadership in the church and world. For more information, visit cune.edu.