'DART Senior Thesis Show' Honors and Celebrates Graduating Seniors

DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery has transformed into a space to honor and celebrate the creativity of four graduating digital art and design majors before they step into the world as professional designers.

The "DART Senior Thesis Show" is free and open to the public through summer 2026 at the art gallery inside Heritage Center, 2255 Bennett Street. The annual spring exhibit is an energetic mix of illustration, motion design, and digital painting.

"Though small in class size, the 'DART Senior Thesis Show' delivers work at an impressive scale - four capstone projects that transform the gallery into a space of bold storytelling and character-driven design," said Sheila Sabers, MAC, associate professor of digital art and design and chair of the Department of Digital Art and Design. "It is exciting to witness - and be a part of - the semester-long design journeys that shaped each student's unique voice in this year's senior thesis exhibition."

Throughout the semester, students devoted countless hours to the Senior Seminar course, refining their craft and shaping a cohesive body of work that reflects their artistic growth. Each student selected a personal theme to guide their collection and wrote an artist statement to express their vision, their passion for creating, and their appreciation for the people who supported them along the way.

Ty Eggers, a senior digital art and design major from Monona, Iowa, found the middle ground between childlike and childish to illustrate and write the children's book A Monster Under My Bed!, which tackles the topic of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"As someone who had experienced a high level of OCD throughout childhood, I wanted to use that experience to create a book that would've helped me as a child," Eggers said in his artist statement. "Though I was introduced to a few books as a kid, I could never remember one on OCD that was specifically for children. I wanted to showcase briefly how OCD can come about and how it can make ordinary child-like fears - like a monster being under your bed - turn into a bigger nightmare. I wanted to really focus on the distress and worry that OCD can cause, and how OCD could be explained to a child in a way they can understand. My hope is that this short story can help adults and children alike understand how OCD works and how it can affect a child's behavior."

Elaina Marburger, a senior digital art and design major from Dubuque, felt lost before she shifted her perspective to explore the emotions and personal struggles that have shaped her to create a series of pieces titled Psyche of the Mortal Body: The Mind, Psyche of the Mortal Body: The Body, Psyche of the Mortal Body: The Heart, and Psyche of the Mortal Body: The Soul.

"I wanted to create something meaningful - work that felt like a masterpiece - but fear, doubt, and the anxiety of failure made it difficult to begin," Marburger said in her artist statement. "I painted and repainted, searching for direction, yet nothing came together. Instead of giving up, I stepped back and reflected on what truly matters to me. I asked myself what parts of who I am I wanted to express through my art, and through that reflection, I realized I could allow my emotions to guide my work. From that point on, my process began to change. I painted without worrying about perfection. Some lines became rough while others softened, reflecting moments shaped by both peace and turmoil. I allowed my emotions to lead, choosing colors that felt true to each piece."

Marburger also designed the poster artwork for the "DART Senior Thesis Show."

Mason Sterken, a senior digital art and design major from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, challenged himself to create a video along with five posters as he took a step forward as a visual storyteller with UNO!

"As someone who dreams of working in sports media at the highest level, I am inspired how media - hype videos, motion graphics, social media posts, etc. - can capture the energy, action, and emotion of a game," Sterken said in his artist statement. "... In pursuit of creating something unique, I settled on a game of Uno for my video. This challenged me to create a video that showcases excitement, action, and emotion, from simple card game. Along with the video came five posters. These posters were created to represent the video itself as well as one poster for each character."

Katelyn Vorwald, a senior digital art and design major from Dubuque, was inspired by a passion for roller skating and an appreciation for anime and animation in her series of pieces titled Aurora in Overdrive: Standoff, Aurora in Overdrive: Take Off, Aurora in Overdrive: Ready to Catch, and Aurora in Overdrive: Target Acquired.

"Through this work, I aim to demonstrate how digital design can engage audiences by combining creativity, visual strategy, and narrative storytelling," Vorwald said in her artist statement. "The characters Aurora and Ink were first developed through traditional sketches, which were later refined using Adobe Illustrator and finalized in Adobe Photoshop to complete the details of the composition. This project represents the culmination of the skills and knowledge I have gained during my time at the University of Dubuque, as well as my aspirations to pursue a career in design that values innovation, collaboration, and meaningful visual communication."

Bisignano Art Gallery hours are noon to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The art gallery is also open in conjunction with all major events in John and Alice Butler Hall, Heritage Center.