Paintings. Drawings. Sculptures. These are just a few of the different types of art that can be found at the Senior Art Exhibit at UNCW. The 18 seniors who have their art displayed for guests to see have been working on their pieces for months now in preparation for this event.

Pam Toll, an art professor who teaches a number of different courses in the department, says she estimated at least 100 people passing through the exhibit opening night.

“It’s a lot of hard work, but the students pull it off well in the end,” said Toll.

Toll is in charge of the event this year but it’s really the students who put everything together.

“These seniors are put into a number of different committees to help make this event happen,” said Toll. The work of the groups includes making the poster for the event, arranging the art in the gallery, sitting in the gallery each day to provide information about the art and any other necessarily jobs that arise.

Valerie McMahan and Sonia Turner, two art seniors graduating in May, helped make the posters and the postcards that were handed out to the public. Turner’s black and white photography was included in the show while McMahan’s artistic creativity was shown off in her calendar and book piece she made.

Turner says her inspiration comes from her “silly perspective on life and showing it to the world through my art.”

Another two students who worked hard for months preparing their own art for the public are seniors Cody Justus and Russ Edwards.

“I make my art from found objects,” said Edwards, pointing to his sculpture of a bird made out of a number of found items. “I use things I find in the environment to make my art because it’s different.”

If you look closely at his sculpture named ‘1st Century Self Portrait’ you can find anything as random as a knife, bike gears, a metal fork and even gardening gloves for the wings.

Justus works with different material when creating his art. Using lots of canvas, acrylic and hemp on his pieces, much of his inspirations come from his other major: nursing.

“It’s about as far away as you can get from art,” said Justus. “But it’s a neat starting point to take unseen things like blood and wires and start there.”

April 14 was opening night for the art exhibit. Even just 30 minutes into the show it was obvious what the artists’ favorite part of showing off their work was.

“To see all the different pieces,” Edwards says, “and have [the guests] tell you they enjoyed your art.”

According to McMahan, her favorite part was “having your art presented in a way other than just showing it off in your hands.”

The art exhibit will be open to the public in the gallery of the Cultural Arts building each week, Monday through Friday, from noon to 4 p.m. until May 13.