Ben Smidt

Taking a new spin on the stereotypical starving artist, senior artists like Derek Wallen and Sam Servais are displaying their work at the Foster Art Gallery.

While the students aren’t too nervous about finding a job, the starving artist clich‚ provided inspiration for the title of the display, “Write if you find work.”

A reception was held Saturday at the Foster Art Gallery for the students to share their work with the public.

“We’re playing off the clich‚ of the poor artist,” said Wallen, a graphic design major.

Half of the display’s artists are graphic design majors while the other half are fine arts majors, he said.

Graphic design is a different kind of art, Wallen said. It is an applied art, while other artists work to produce their art for display.

Wallen said he hopes to work for a graphic design company or another major corporation making a package design for a corporate identity.

Such a position would include making logos, Web site graphics and posters. The work of a graphic design major is similar to advertising with the emphasis on packaging and design, he said.

After graduating in December, Wallen said he will intern at UW-Eau Claire and then go to graduate school for two years.

Getting a job in the future is a concern for Wallen, but he said getting a great portfolio together shows employers that you have something to offer.

Servais, an illustration major in the exhibition, said he is not concerned about getting a job. He plans to take a semester off to work and make some money before going to graduate school.

Both Servais and Wallen said the current economy is hurting the job market and everyone is affected by the current recession, not just art majors.

“If you love what you do and put time into it, you’ll find your place,” Servais said.

Servais began as a graphic design major, but he chose to switch to illustration because he disliked the pressures of constantly evolving technology in graphic design.

His goal for the future is to teach art after he gets his degree from graduate school.

Assistant professor of art Sangram Majumdar attended the reception, and urged all students to see the exhibit.

People should come look at the display to give them a small glimpse of the different aspects in the field of art, he said.

“The display has a wide range of art from painting to illustration to graphic design to sculpture,” Majumdar said.

“Write if you find work,” will run until Sunday in the Foster Art Gallery in Haas Fine Arts Center. The hours of the gallery are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and 1 to 4:30 p.m. on weekends.

Despite the worries of finding employment in the future, the students in the exhibit have all shown their commitment to the field of art and their interest in creating art.

Wallen said that art is the only career path he wants to pursue.

“Now I see it’s the only thing I could do or feel like doing for a career.”