Greencastle, Pa. resident Al Sucke, left, views an art piece derived from a medical image with his granddaughter, Shepherd University art student Beck Hartman, at the “Persona: Art of Perception” show in the War Memorial Building. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — During the month of April, 13 of Shepherd University’s senior art students held shows throughout Shepherdstown.

The art shows were all created to meet the completion requirement for Phaze 2 Gallery Director Evan Boggess’ capstone class. Some of the shows were solo exhibitions, featuring the work and vision of a single artist, while others were collaborative and required compromise on various levels of the artistic process. One such collaborative show featured the mixed media artwork of Shelby Fernatt and the cyanotype photography of Collin Harper in “Persona: Art of Perception,” which was held on the first floor of the War Memorial Building.

“This is one of the most important classes we take,” Fernatt said of the capstone class, noting how it prepares students to create professional art shows after graduation. “For our show, we’ve been doing it completely collaboratively, as a group.”

The two friends said they had to give up their initial ideas, when they decided to create an art show together, so that their capstone projects would be able to form a cohesive unit.

“We’ve gone out of our way to make choices, with the other person in mind,” Harper said. “That is why a lot of people who have come in and seen the show have assumed it was made by one person.”

From left to right, Shepherd University art students Kim Workman, Elliana Blevins and Benjamin Blake stand together in their art show, “Parallels of Sentience,” in the War Memorial Building. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

After considering various ideas together, they landed on the theme of personhood and how one’s self perceptions are influenced by one’s mental and physical health. Harper’s work focused primarily on the subject of physical health, inspired by a recent car accident. One of his cyanotype photographs in the show directly spoke about this experience, as it featured a medical image of a tendon in his arm, which was torn in the crash. Fernatt’s work highlighted her and her family’s struggles with mental and physical health — recently, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Those and other personal experiences beyond her control, inspired her to create a marionette to include in the show.

“It’s supposed to speak on the idea of not having control of your own identity,” Fernatt said. “Being told you are who you are supposed to be and kind of feeling beaten down and ripped apart by expectations — by whoever is around you. There is a societal expectation of who you are and who you’re supposed to be, to be a successful member of a community. It’s very exhausting, to try and meet expectations like that, and it feels very defeating, even when you kind of give in.”

They collaborated even further, by creating an art piece for the show together — an interactive skeleton display, with lights and sound.

“We definitely wanted this to be the best that it could be, because everyone in our class has put together great capstone projects this year,” Harper said. In the ballroom above the friends’ show, another art show was taking place at the same time. “Parallels of Sentience” featured the mixed media paintings of Kim Workman, oil paintings of Benjamin Blake and illustrative art of Elliana Blevins. Their show centered around the theme of what it means to be human, though each artist took a notably different spin on the topic.

“Our work talks about various different human experiences that we have had,” Blake said.

“Persona: Art of Perception” creators Collin Harper, left, and Shelby Fernatt, center, hang out with fellow Shepherd University art student Sadie Valzetta at their show in the War Memorial Building. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

Blake’s work, titled “Abandon the Moment,” highlighted the human experience of disassociating from reality, caused by suppressed stress. Blevins’ work, titled “The Marble Arch,” delved into the human desire for romance and connection. Workman’s work, titled “Evolve,” featured the textures of nature, recreated on canvas.

“The ideas behind each of our work kind of played off of each other, so we decided to exhibit together,” Workman said. “Although each of our work is different from each other’s, the underlying theme was enough to make this a group show.”

The collaborative art exhibit in the "Persona" capstone project features an illuminated image of the human skeleton. Photo by Tabitha Johnston