SE students let nature inspire them for Arbor Day

By Mathew Shaw/se news editor

Together We Can Grow, Ricardo Plomares, Bridget Aldape and Nnamdi Mora
Together We Can Grow, Ricardo Plomares, Bridget Aldape and Nnamdi Mora

A poster depicting a large tree positioned atop a globe hangs in SE Campus’ Art Corridor III. The metaphorical fruits of this tree, including oxygen and paper for books, hang from its branches. Its title reminds passers-by to “think green, give green.”

It is also the first-place winner of the annual Arbor Day Poster Competition.

“For us to keep getting these resources, we can keep planting trees,” said SE student Brandi McFarland, who designed the poster with Mario Villanueva.

The competition is held every spring and coordinated by Sharon Covington, SE art associate professor.

“I think it’s really nice because it gives students an opportunity to create a project that they might have in a job out there in the real world,” she said.

Covington’s Design I and digital art students are generally involved in the competition, but it is open to everyone.

“Let Nature Inspire You” is the title of the second-place poster designed by Digital I students Lauren Nelson and Thuy Vu. On the poster is a tree with wind-blown leaves.

“It’s actually inspired by a mural in Mansfield of a girl whose hair is blowing in the wind,” Nelson said.

Nelson mostly does artwork of people, “but nature’s refreshing every once in a while.”

Chad Thomas and Jason Zamora won third place.

An Arbor Day ceramics competition was added for the first time. SE art instructor Jessica Battes-Grabowski said the posters only covered a two-dimensional format and wanted a way for ceramics students to take part. Battes-Grabowski said out of 17 participants, judges chose three winners. Emily Zerr placed first.

The third-place piece is a vase molded in the style of Athens circa 500 B.C., designed by SE student Monica Chavez. It depicts cupped hands embracing Earth, which has a tree situated on top of it.

“It’s the Arbor Day symbol,” she said. “Everyone knows it by that.”

SE student Diane Johnson’s vase, “Sunset of a Willow Tree,” won second place. Its prominent feature is, as the title implies, a willow tree.

“I grew up with them, and I used to play in them,” she said. “I’m from Ohio, so I like the leaves, the way they change colors.”

The ceramics are displayed in Art Corridor I and will, like the posters, remain on display until April 30.

Photos by Jean Paul Adjodi  Let Nature Inspire You, Lauren Nelson and Thuy Vu
Photos by Jean Paul Adjodi Let Nature Inspire You, Lauren Nelson and Thuy Vu