Ferris Launches Unexpected Choices Exhibit at Art Gallery
Ferris State University’s Design Project Center opened the Unexpected Choices exhibit on the Big Rapids campus in the Fine Art Gallery.
Photo courtesy/Sandy Gholston
BIG RAPIDS – In the heart of West Michigan, purpose-driven businesses look to designers’ skills and forward-thinking approaches to develop fresh, distinctive, and innovative content highlighted by clear, engaging messaging.
In collaboration with the West Michigan Graphic Design Archives, the Design Project Center at Ferris State University launched the Unexpected Choices exhibit on the Big Rapids campus at the Fine Art Gallery in room 205 of the University Center building to help show these efforts and these results. This exhibition started on Monday April 11 and will continue until the beginning of May. The closing ceremony of Unexpected Choices will take place on Thursday, May 5 at 4 p.m. at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts.
Ferris’ student team gained experience as they demonstrated how graphic design helps businesses that want to stand out from the competition.
“One of the core missions of the Art Gallery is collaboration,” said Carrie Weis, Director of the Museum and Gallery. “We strive to be a resource for our campus and community by providing a space that showcases the creative talents and accomplishments of our faculty, students, and local and regional artists. This exhibition is a perfect example of the type of collaboration we like to be involved in and was proposed by the students of the design program and their teacher.
Unexpected Choices was organized and designed by senior Ferris students Mallory Jarrett, McKinley Kreitner, Nathan Nye, Olivia Smith, and Ngan Tang, guided by program faculty members Alison Popp and Nicolas Mata.
“It’s particularly exciting because it encompasses current design program classes under Professor Alison Popp and her senior students with a great history of graphic designers in West Michigan who have delivered award-winning advertising campaigns for major regional and national businesses and organizations,” Weis said. “The work on display was curated by Popp and his students, from thematic concept to installation. The work depicts advertising imagery dating from the 1940s through the 2010s, collected by Ferris graphic design emeritus Barbara Loveland and Linda Powell.
Unexpected Choices was made possible through a collaboration that included the Design Project Center at the College of Business and the West Michigan Graphic Design Archives, housed at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center at Western Michigan University.
“The Ferris Fine Art Gallery is proud to host this exhibition and is incredibly impressed with their planning and commitment to the design of this exceptional exhibition,” said Weis.
For more information about the exhibit, visit www.ferris.edu/art-gallery or call 231-591-2536.
