In just six weeks over winter break, junior Julian Kincaid created 18 pieces of artwork to be showcased in Wichita State’s Cadman Art Gallery, located in the Rhatigan Student Center, for his Visual Culture exhibit.
The 22-year-old art education major keeps himself busy as a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and by teaching children about the importance of art.
With the exhibit, Kincaid said he hoped to get people thinking about visual culture outside of the classroom.
“It’s about all the art we see around us and how it is meant to influence us and what we do about it and how we interact with it,” Kincaid said.
For Kincaid’s exhibit, he accumulated over 6,000 assorted stickers to enhance the beauty of overlooked items. He decorated a pizza topper with red stickers, a stop-sign with purple stickers, an orange traffic cone with orange stickers. Kincaid decorated each letter to spell out “visual culture” with assorted stickers.
To make things more interactive, Kincaid left the extra stickers he didn’t use out for gallery-goers to decorate an empty parchment. Some visitors used the stickers Kincaid provided while others put up their own stickers from clubs or sports teams.
“I think my art could really make those interests more accessible to everyone else,” Kincaid said.
Kincaid develops his artistic skills by volunteering and teaching students about art. He also hopes to volunteer at the Bonnaroo music arts festival with 25 other artist this summer in order to gain hands-on experience by installing, setting up, and enhancing sets. Applications open in March.
Kincaid’s said he also takes pride in the art and design work he’s been involved in with his fraternity and other groups on campus.
Through SAE, Kincaid has volunteered at a non-profit organization called Children’s Miracle, where he taught art and had the opportunity to meet one of the kids that the organization helped. The child was able to get hearing aids that their parents’ insurance would not cover because they considered them “cosmetic.”
Kincaid said art should be accessible and that it is for everyone to enjoy and participate in.
“Don’t ever think that art is out of your reach or out of your grasp because everybody does have a place in it,” he said.
