Gustavus seniors who are involved in music or are majoring in art have been spending much of their time preparing for senior recitals and for the senior art exhibition in the Hillstrom Museum of Art this spring. The time for music performances and finishing touches of artworks has arrived and presenting students are getting both excited and nervous to show their work.
Communications Studies and Music double major Kacie Fosterand and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies major with a Music minor Mary Krafthefer will both be presenting their final piano recitals on April 18 in Bjorling Recital Hall. Foster will be performing from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Krafthefer will perform from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. These recitals are free and open to the public.
Foster has been involved in music since she was 6 years old. She has performed at a wedding, had summer jobs utilizing her piano skills at Menard’s hardware store, community events,
and nursing homes. On campus, she has played piano with the Gustavus Wind Orchestra for the last three years, teaches piano lessons with the Gustavus Piano Lab program, accompanies vocal performers, played in the January Interim production of Assassins, and even performed with a fellow student at the Royal Dinner for the King and Queen of Sweden when they visited Gustavus.
“To me, music is such a community thing,” Foster said. “Music is something that has always been there throughout my entire life and I want to be able to give that gift to somebody else.”
Krafthefer has been involved with music since she was 5 years old. At Gustavus, she has taken piano lessons and performed as an alto with the Lucia Singers. Outside of school, she has performed in the pit orchestra for musical plays. Krafthefer hopes to continue to play recreationally in the future.
Both students have grown as musicians at Gustavus, and appreciate their piano professors and fellow music students who have provided support and helped them progress.
“The people have really shaped my musical experience because everybody is really supportive of each other,” Foster said. “I love making music with other people.”
“I think it’s going to be a really good show. It’s a chance for us to show how hard we’ve been working and how talented we are.”—Jordan Bergman
“More than any other course at Gustavus, piano lessons have made me understand that making mistakes is okay and not doing something perfectly is okay,” Krafthefer said. “The piano students here are really good at giving positive criticism and being supportive.
I think the thing that makes the recitals the best is the other students and the support you get.”
Senior art majors are also getting the opportunity to showcase their work and show their talents to Gustavus and the St. Peter community. From May 2-31 the Hillstrom Museum, located downstairs in the Campus Center, will present an annual Senior Art Exhibition. There will be an opening reception for this exhibition on May 2 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The exhibit is open to the public and is free of charge.
Honors Dance and Studio Art double major Jordan Bergman has found that Gustavus has helped develop her skills as an artist. She has been able to hone in on what she is attempting to portray through her art and realized why art is so important to her. She has been involved in art since she was young.
“I expressed an interest in it to my mom when I was younger and she put me in summer art classes,” Bergman said. “I think at the very core of my being I’m a creator. I like bringing things into existence. I think it’s a fulfilment of my nature.”
Bergman works a lot with charcoal and dance drawings, using her body as a mark-making
tool to manipulate the charcoal on paper in a unique way. She works to combine visual and performance art, which is a focus of her honors project. This project will feature three dancers who will be using their bodies to work with paint and charcoal to make a work of art.
“Doing my dance drawings is really liberating for me,” Bergman said. “Dance and visual art are my two passions and I just want to find ways that they can coalesce and I can do both at the same time.”
“Music is something that has always been there throughout my entire life.”—Kacie Foster
The senior art exhibition is a way for students to present their art to their fellow students and to the general public. Bergman is looking forward for the chance to showcase her art along with other Art majors.
“We have a lot of really great seniors this year, a lot of really talented people,” Bergman said. “I think it’s going to be a really good show. It’s a chance for us to show how hard we’ve been working and how talented we are.”
-Kim Krulish