Senior Thesis Exhibitions

Xavier University Department of Art

Senior Thesis Exhibitions

The culminating creative experience for Xavier Art students.

Every senior Art major develops and presents a thesis exhibition, either independently or as part of a group exhibition, with dedicated studio space to research, experiment, make, and prepare a sustained body of work.

Senior Thesis

2025–2026 Exhibitions

Under the Influence

Corinne Ault

Corinne critiques the beauty industry’s way of profiting from vulnerable consumers by exploiting insecurities through social media, beauty standards, and consumerism.

A Disregard for Sanctitude

Elizabeth Rockford

Elizabeth’s interdisciplinary installation and ceramic sculptural work forces the viewer to confront the consequences of conflict.

Thrifting to Thrive

Quinci Thomas

Quinci explores how thrifting affects sustainability, human trends, self-expression, and the environment through oil painting and mixed-media fabric collage.

Nature Transformed

Chris Manos

Chris explores the changing forms of wildlife and natural environments through his own photography, digitally reworked to emphasize pattern, color, texture, and transformation.

Natalie Stadt

Senior thesis exhibition.

Beauty in Chaos

Kezia Vi Copeland

Kezia explores the turbulent experience of multiracial identity through sculpture, installation, wire, and spiral forms that embody the tension between fixed and fluid identities.

The Sumitt Experience

Christian Cunningham

Christian’s interdisciplinary marketing campaign follows the design, creation, and commercialization of footwear for his brand Sumitt Club.

Rooted in Memory

Megan Dodds

Megan reconnects with the sensory wonder of childhood through fiber and painting while reflecting on memory, the passage of time, growth, and identity.

The Farmer's Arc

Jamie Klavon

Jamie’s thesis celebrates what photography can capture, using images of rural life and sculptural interpretations of animals to highlight the care that motivates farm life.

Magorum turres

Hannah Weaver Cohen

Hannah’s work is a love letter to childhood bedtime stories, exploring visual storytelling, fantasy, magic, and the imagined worlds of wizards hidden away in their towers.

Lost in Translation

Sean Poletynski

Sean explores human emotions and feelings unknown to the English language as a call to introspection, self-understanding, and reflection on what transcends language.

Kylie Jansen

Senior thesis exhibition.

Brave Home

Ian McIlvain

Ian’s collaborative community exhibition shares vulnerable anecdotes and artifacts from marginalized communities to catalyze authentic conversations on misinformation, inclusion, and justice.

Mobilizing to the Mutt-i-gree

Briana Dunn

Briana explores what we owe to the animals in our care and the sometimes dire circumstances faced in animal shelters through prints, installation, and ceramic sculpture.

Come to Dinner

Molly Jachim

Molly’s installation of prints, paintings, and ceramics explores the everyday sacred act of coming together over a meal through faith, love, and sharing.

Nell'Acqua

Bianca Schmidt

Bianca explores the process of healing through water, using oil paint on various surfaces to create a deeper emotional connection with vulnerability, serenity, and renewal.

A Space to Make Something Your Own.

The senior thesis brings together years of experimentation, research, technical development, critique, and personal exploration into a body of work presented publicly in the Xavier University Art Gallery.