Abstracts
ADAMS, M. Graphic Design. Self-Portraiture Reimagine.
My research on Jay Ryan’s print Self-Portrait with Manatee (2004) inspired a hypothetical exhibition titled “Self-Portraiture Reimagined.” This exhibition explores the idea of identity through unexpected and playful forms. It allows visitors to question how we choose to be seen by others and how we see ourselves. The artworks that would be included in the exhibition suggest that identity is not fixed but something that can be transformed and expanded beyond the basic human form. Ryan’s work is a good example of this.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
DOUDS, B. Studio Arts. Aging & Autonomy: The Battle in U.S. Healthcare and Nursing Homes.
A major component of ARTH 4900 The Art World After Modernism is intensive research into an artwork in the Bruce Gallery’s Permanent Connection. This presentation highlights that research through a hypothetical gallery show featuring the work. I Like Living Here Alone (1991) is a series of photographs taken by Kathe Kowalski, a former Edinboro photography professor. The work not only documents the relationship between a mother and daughter but is also representative of a larger systemic problem experienced by elderly women in healthcare.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
FROST, E. Media Arts: Animation. Rock, Racoons, Ryan.
Jay Ryan’s Self-Portrait with Manatee is the inspiration for the hypothetical exhibition titled “Rock, Racoons, Ryan” that is the focus of my presentation. Ryan stands out amongst print makers as one of the most innovative voices. Exhausted by the often-over-used motifs of skulls, motorcycles, and monsters in punk rock posters, Ryan chose to make his own visual library of brightly colored animals and surreal compositions.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
HACKNEY, C. Wildlife Biology. Plant recolonization of human disturbed habitats under differing conditions.
This research project was an experiment in the plants' ability to regrow in a human disturbed habitat. The main investigation was how soil type and light intensity could affect the growth of plants, both their growth rate and density. Four tanks were set up, two tanks holding soil from RI, the other two holding a mixture of PA soil and fertilizer. Two of the tanks were covered with thin paper towels to reduce the amount of light intensity. Soil sample tests were completed throughout the experiment to see how the soil nutrients could change from the beginning to the end. At the end of the experiment, the average height of the plants in the tanks was recorded. Along with this, the plant density was recorded as a measure of soil versus plant leaf coverage seen.
Faculty sponsor: Dolly Crawford
HALL, M. Fine Arts / Applied Media Arts: Cinema. Tales of the Told.
My research on Tom Huck’s Up Dung Creek – a detailed linocut from 2006 that is part of the Bruce Gallery’s Permanent Collection – inspired a hypothetical exhibition titled “Tales of the Told.” We have all heard of legends and myths, such as Bigfoot or Unicorns. These stories have been passed down through generations. Simple folklore, once shared in small towns, cities, and communities, became urban legends and myths. This exhibition will show just that and how printmaking can help carry the story with exaggerated forms and movement, giving a larger-than-life effect.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
HOOPPELL, K. Accounting. The Effect of U.S. Consumer Price Index Surprises on EUR/USD Volatility.
This study examines whether differences between expected and actual U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) values, or CPI surprises, increase short-term volatility in the EUR/USD exchange rate. Using monthly CPI data from 2015–2025, results show CPI surprises have a statistically significant but economically modest effect. Volatility also persists over time, contributing to short-term fluctuations. Expanding the sample may improve reliability and help explain how scheduled economic announcements influence currency markets.
Faculty sponsor: Jingze Jiang
IRELAND, M. Media Arts: Animation. Humanity and Myth.
My research on Tom Hück’s Up Dung Creek (2006) revealed its connection to myths related to the Mississippi River and inspired my hypothetical exhibition titled “Humanity and Myth.” The exhibition would feature various artistic interpretations of myths from around the world, including Hück’s piece, and would be on view at the Bruce Gallery on Edinboro’s campus so that art educators and students could explore the role of mythology in the world.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
KEPPLER, L. Graphic Design & Illustration. Smoke Signals: A Deck of Everyday Addictions.
Smoke Signals is a conceptual card deck that explores everyday addictions through physical objects and poetic language. Each card represents a common dependency, such as caffeine, social media, work, gambling, or shopping, and pairs it with a short reflective blurb. Rather than focusing only on extreme or illegal behaviors, the project highlights ordinary habits that often go unnoticed but quietly shape identity, routine, and self-worth. The deck format transforms addiction into something interactive and familiar. By using the visual language of playing cards, the project connects ideas of chance, risk, repetition, and control. Viewers are invited to hold the habits that hold them, confronting how comfort can become craving and ritual can become reliance.
Faculty sponsor: Cassandra Reese
KYLE, S. Media Arts: Animation. Rock Art Influence.
My research on Jay Ryan’s Self-Portrait with Manatee, a lithograph from 2004, inspired the hypothetical exhibition titled “Rock Art Influence.” This exhibition would include artwork that exemplifies the ways rock art has been influenced by various factors, such as pop culture and the internet. Likewise, it would consider how the rock band aesthetic has been used in combination with subject matter unrelated to rock bands. Ryan’s self-portrait is a good example of this.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
MASETTA-HOWE, A. Studio Arts & Psychology. (Riot) Grrrl Power: Differing Voices During the Third Wave Feminist Movement.
Susan Denniston’s Girls will be Girls (1993) is the inspiration for this hypothetical exhibition that explores artworks from the twenty years that encompassed the third-wave feminist movement. Beginning with the rise of the riot grrrl underground punk movement in the early 1990s and following through with celebrations of multiple instances of women being voted into positions of power in the late 2000s, the third-wave feminist movement expanded the idea of who could benefit from feminism beyond middle class white women. Denniston’s print invites the viewer to consider the iconic female figures in her print within a new context.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
NOON, J. Studio Arts. Rewriting Her Image.
Susan Denniston’s Girls Will Be Girls (1993) explores how the female body has been treated as both subject and object as it was studied, consumed, and controlled across time. Denniston’s print inspired the hypothetical exhibition titled “Rewriting Her Image” that includes artists who want to express what femininity means to them. They explain the destruction of gender inequality and the power of liberation. Shown through various mediums, they expose how representations of women have been constructed and how they can be reclaimed. The works do not simply critique the past; they rewrite it.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
NORDIN, S. The Space Between.
See WEST, E.
PARTUSCH, A. Media Arts: Digital Film and Photography. Oil Crises in Art.
When hard times arise, a long line isn’t something anyone wants to see, but it is an unfortunate reality that all people experience. Oil shortages are not an uncommon occurrence and, like today, they caused an awful lot of stress and hardship for many people during the 1970s. The hyperrealist art of Ron Kleemann, and others, aimed to depict the world exactly how it appears, detailing the importance of every issue through the effort necessary to produce the art. Issues like this effect all of us, and discussing them is important. Representing these issues through art is an excellent way to initiate these discussions.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
PEZZE, E. Media Arts: Animation. Exaggerated Realities: Satire in Contemporary Art.
“Exaggerated Realities: Satire in Contemporary Art” is a hypothetical exhibition inspired by my research on Tom Huck’s Up Dung Creek (2006). This exhibition explores how artists use satire to transform familiar scenes into exaggerated and chaotic narratives. Through detailed prints and visually dense compositions, these works – like Huck’s – take everyday experiences and push them to extremes.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
POSEGO, M. Business. Consolidation in Healthcare: The Effect of Hospital Acquisitions on Patient Pricing.
This research examines the relationship between hospital consolidation and patient costs. This research is motivated by the ongoing concerns regarding rising healthcare costs and increased merger activities within the industry. This study aims to provide evidence on whether hospital acquisitions are associated with increases in patient prices compared to non-acquired hospitals. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we examine changes in financial measures before and after hospital acquisitions. Patient costs are evaluated indirectly through net income and cost-to-charge ratios (CCR), which provide insight into potential pricing increases following acquisitions. The analysis finds a statistically significant increase in these pricing measures relative to the control hospitals.
Faculty sponsor: Jingze Jiang
SMATHERS, O. Media Arts: Animation. American Nightmare
My research on Tom Huck’s Up Dung Creek, a linocut made in 2006, inspired my hypothetical exhibition “American Nightmare.” The art works in the exhibition reflect on the concept of the American lifestyle and the notion of the American Dream. It asks questions many are too afraid to think about. It will consider aspects of the unseen side of America and will be on view at the New York Transit Museum.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
SMELKO, C. Exercise Science. Effect of Caffeine on Hydration Levels in College Athletes.
Purpose: The existing research is limited regarding caffeine’s diuretic effect on college athletes. The consumption of caffeine has increased over the years, which could contribute to the diuretic effect due to the dosage increase. Methods: 22 male and 15 female PennWest Edinboro athletes (18-25y; mean age: 20.35 ± 1.23y) with varying caffeine amounts consumed (00-940 mg; 132.30 ± 208.33 mg) provided a urine sample for hydration levels using a urine specific gravity (USG) refractometer. Results: Analysis revealed no significance or correlation between daily caffeine consumption and USG (r= 0.052, p=0.761). Conclusion: Results suggest that despite heightened caffeine dosages, caffeine consumption does not significantly impact the hydration levels of college athletes.
Faculty sponsor: Jim Roberts
SNYDER, S. Media Arts: Animation. Artists of the American Heartland.
“Artists of the American Heartland” is a hypothetical exhibition inspired by my research on Tom Huck’s linocut Up Dung Creek (2006). Featuring a battle to the death between Mississippi River sailors and a terrifying sea monster, Up Dung Creek shows off the brute toughness of Midwesterners. The exhibition would bring together works from the best artists of the Midwest, allow the viewer to experience themes of the Mississippi River, farms of the Corn Belt, and even the Great Lakes. It will be installed at the Saint Louis Art Museum.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
WEST, E. & NORDIN, S. Art Education & Fine Arts. The Space Between.
Space as an element of design can mean many things. Space is used to better a piece visually and create interest, but in art as a whole, emotional space plays a key role. Through our collaborative sculpture, we explored how the space between things connects that which is seemingly unconnected, specifically the space between nature and humanity. Humanity is a part of nature as a whole, but that is sometimes forgotten due to a divide between the natural and man-made worlds. The Space Between depicts a crawling human reaching between environmental pieces towards a tree. All 7 pieces are made primarily of natural materials. To further the emotional concept, a blacklight is used to reveal invisible ink connecting the sculpture, demonstrating shared wounds between the tree and humanoid.
Faculty sponsor: Mary Elizabeth Meier
WINDOFT, C. Studio Arts. The Weight on Your Shoulders.
For our Art World After Modernism class, we were asked to select a work of art from the Bruce Gallery’s Permanent Collection. I selected Susan Denniston’s print Girls will be Girls (1993). I created a hypothetical exhibition inspired by this silkscreen titled “the weight on your shoulders” that seeks to share how art creates balance in our chaotic world. The theme of the show is directly related to a sentiment expressed by the artist regarding art’s role in the world.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger
WOOLSTRUM, S. Fine Arts / Applied Media Arts: Cinema. Memory and Grief in Times of War.
War is often remembered through its battles, leaders, and victories. Yet its deepest marks arise in silence by those who remain. “Memory and Grief in Times of War” is a hypothetical exhibition that invites viewers into the intimate world of grief and remembrance. Through imagery and symbolic use of nature, the works in this exhibition reveal the emotional avenues shaped by loss and echoes the quiet resilience of those who endure the loss. At the heart of the exhibition, Civil War Widow (2007) by Diana Sudyka, offers a portrait of the aftermath of the war.
Faculty sponsor: Cynthia Persinger