Student Art in the Legislature, 2022

Eight students were selected to have artwork displayed in the Michigan Legislature

"Art in the Legislature" is a partnership between the Michigan Association of State Universities and the Michigan Legislature to promote art in everyday life.

Eight pieces of UM-Dearborn student artwork will hang in the Anderson House Office Building and the Michigan Senate Binsfield Building for the next academic year as part of an initiative to promote art in everyday life. The program, Art in the Legislature, is a joint partnership between the Michigan Association of State Universities and the Michigan Legislature.

According to the Art in the Legislature planning committee, "The addition of student artwork has added to the aesthetic quality of the interior to the legislative offices and has provided a venue to promote the creative talents of our state university students."

Participating students:

• Rushmore by Hunter McCray (Human-Centered Design Engineering)
• Chicago Skies by Xena Mroue (Marketing)
• The Light in the Darkness by Maia Greenway (Communications)
• Mental Health Matters by Israa Srour (Behavioral and Biological Science)
• Shuffle' by Jonathan Graham (Engineering)
• Fantasy Landscape by Mariya Churina (Psychology)
• Blade of Grass by Monica Skamiera (Environmental Studies)

(artwork below appears in the same order as the list above)

Sarah Nesbitt, Lecturer III in Applied Art, who coordinated the gathering of student artwork submissions from the Applied Arts program shares, "Every year, my fellow applied art lecturers, Madeleine Barkey, and Kevin Castile, and I get really excited when this opportunity comes up. However, in the past, it was very difficult to narrow down selections when we were limited to the number of submissions to turn in. We came up with about 48 works for the Michigan Association of State Universities to choose from. It's great to see so many students from the University of Michigan-Dearborn who are pursuing majors outside of art perform at the level of art majors from other institutions. It shows that their hard work and their talents are appreciated and seen at a high level. For us faculty, this is what we want for our students."

Each year, student artists and their families are invited to attend an opening reception during the Fall in Lansing to celebrate the new installation.