The University of Arkansas School of Art 2020 Senior Class Brings Art to the Digital Space It is customary for the University of Arkansas School of Art’s senior graphic design class to display a show of their work at the end of the spring semester each year. During this past spring’s season of precaution, however, the senior class of 2020 opted to move to the digital space and make the exhibition completely virtual. In partnership with Crystal Bridges, the virtual graphic design exhibition called Frankly was featured in Gallery 5, an interactive, real-time 3D rendering of the museum’s Modern Art Gallery created by The Tesseract Center for Immersive Environments and Game Design, a University of Arkansas campus center that produces video games and virtual reality content for teaching and research. Using a computer, visitors virtually walked through the space, viewing the bios of each student artist and their work through a wide variety of forms including apps, community projects, printed artifacts, and games. According to the 24 graduating seniors who contributed to this show, Frankly is an exhibition that allowed each student to speak their truth and “speculate recklessly with a greater good in mind.” Each student dedicated their final semester to researching and designing a speculative solution for a systemic
problem of their choice. Topics ranged from developing selfconfidence and managing mental health, to interventions in sex education and local politics. “Regardless of where our paths lead us in the future,” the students have stated, “our time together at the University of Arkansas has shaped us into dynamic, forward-thinking designers eager to tackle any design problem thrown our way.”
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