*First Place*

Opening Day

Oil Painting

By Toryn Autry

Senior Visualization major, from Marion, TX.

Artist Statement: Opening Day’ captures the quiet anticipation of hunting season. Three dogs, each focused in their own way, stand in a field of tall grass; one gazing into the distance, the others scenting the ground. Soft light filters through the clouds, embodying the stillness and excitement that fills the air on the first day of the hunt.

*Second Place*

Likeness

Pencil drawing

By Samica Joshua

Freshman Public Health major, from Frisco, TX.

Artist Statement: Growing up, I often felt a certain contempt for my ethnic features, struggling to appreciate what made me unique. However, with age, a deep fondness for them has blossomed, especially as I see them reflected in the faces of my loved ones. Through this photo of my father, I sought to depict those features with care and love, highlighting our likeness as a testament to the beauty in our shared identity.

*Third Place Tie*

Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS Over Aggieland

Photography

By Will Pierce

Senior Construction Science major, from Amarillo, TX.

Artist Statement: This photograph captures Comet A3 ATLAS streaking over the iconic Aggie Barn off Highway 6—a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event. I traveled with friends from the Texas A&M Photography Club to witness and document this rare moment. Using a Fujifilm X-H2 at 16mm with a 20-second exposure, I carefully balanced time spent setting up with the urgency of the comet sinking below the horizon. Knowing that this comet won’t return for another 80,000 years made the experience even more significant. This image is a reflection of that fleeting, extraordinary night under the Texas sky.

*Winner for Best Film*

Lipstick Stains & Cigarette Burns

Film

Nicole Fultz

Sophomore Industrial & Systems Engineering major, from

Houston, Texas.

Artist Statement: Similar to a Norman Rockwell painting in their depictions of everyday life and idealized sentiment, I used this project to highlight small everyday occurrences by creating connections between objects and experiences. My film, however, is also an effort to question Rockwell’s portrayal of sentiment. I do so by expanding on the less ideal complexities of memories through visual storytelling. In my short film the stories behind the objects are obscured in a pink tint, a dreamlike and “rose-colored-glasses” perspective. As the film progresses, the mood shifts to reveal the various emotions correlated with each memory. There is more than one emotion stained, smudged, and burned into our everyday lives from each experience, and remembered in each souvenir.