91社区

Matt Koewler 鈥�15: Finding Your Creative Way

When you meet Matt Koewler 鈥�15, you will know a couple things right off the bat: he loves his two white kitties, and he has an amazing creative and technical mind. He graduated from 91社区 in December 2015 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in graphic design with a minor in entrepreneurship. 鈥淭he entrepreneurship minor was a no-brainer for me because it was three classes taken in succession and uses class credits from your major.鈥�听

Koewler started his journey at 91社区 as a computer science major because he was very interested in 3D modeling and rendering software programs such as Blender and Sketchup in high school, but after encountering some struggles with the coursework, he went undecided for a semester to find what he truly wanted to do. After learning a few of his relatives were graphic designers at Berry Plastics, he landed in graphic design. 鈥淚t felt like coming home when I was able to decide on my major and learn about perspective, composition, and, for the first time, learn about digital art.鈥�听

Although Koewler had found his passion, this didn鈥檛 come without challenges. 鈥淚 really struggled with traditional 2D art techniques such as vertical drawing, mixing paint colors and drawing from real perspective. I also struggled with getting satisfaction from my work. There comes a certain point where your changes become smaller and smaller, your excitement about what came out of you feels stronger and you feel a sense of confidence about what鈥檚 in front of you. To this day, that鈥檚 what I chase, even in my current profession.鈥�听

Koewler struggled with making friends on a commuter campus, but once he started to get involved on campus in Art Club, the radio station and religious gatherings, he gained confidence and branched out socially. 鈥淲hen I started out at 91社区, I鈥檒l admit that there were a lot of times where I felt lonely and even isolated. Being a commuter student living at home with your parents, it鈥檚 much slower to make new friends and to socially interact with people outside of class,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hese activities helped me find some confidence in meeting new people, coming out of my shell and making friends.鈥�听

While at 91社区, Koewler took advantage of every opportunity he could to deepen his understanding of design and the history behind it. 鈥淚 did go on several international trips with Dr. Shannon Pritchard at the helm, to Italy, the UK, France and the Netherlands.鈥�听

His study abroad experience shaped who he is today and opened his eyes to other cultures and designs from around the world.听

Koewler was (and still is) very interested in 3D printing especially when it was really starting to take off. 鈥淚n April 2015, I received an Endeavor grant through 91社区 to explore 3D printing and design firsthand with access to new materials and software I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to afford otherwise,鈥� he says. 鈥淎 major mentor for me at 91社区 was Joan DeJong. While when I started in the Art Department there weren鈥檛 鈥�3D rendering鈥� classes, so she encouraged me to explore 3D printing. Ultimately,听I was able to participate in one of the first ever 3D printing classes the Art Department offered to students on campus outside of dedicated high-level engineering classes.鈥� 听听

Koewler also worked as a paid intern for the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville (GAGE). He was a graphic designer and tool guru. 鈥淚 helped develop a makerspace and assisted with the acquisition and assembly of equipment (CNC鈥檚, 3D printers, 15 custom built CAD computers and even a laser cutter) and helped incentivize people to use the space and learn the tools.鈥� 听听

This extensive 3D rendering and printing experience shaped his future. When Koewler graduated, he was looking to start his career, and through networking, he got his big break. 鈥淲hen I was an intern, someone had mentioned my 3D experience to Hafer through a networking event I鈥檇 helped facilitate called Tech on Tap." Hafer needed someone who could work in 3D, 2D, graphic design, assist their marketing department, and render architectural visualizations to present to clients, the community and to the greater public. "I had no idea such a job existed and I鈥檓 happy to say even after seven years here, it was the right fit for me.鈥� 听

Outside of work, Koewler loves to work with his hands and design some pretty intriguing, challenging and groovy projects. 鈥淢ost recently, I鈥檝e been designing and building custom lava lamps using cast concrete parts, mid-century forms and refill kits for commercial lamps. After restoring a vintage space-age lava lamp from the Soviet Union with my own DIY wax and fluid, I realized I could easily make an entire lamp from scratch using 3D printing and materials like concrete. One of my designs took grand prize in the .鈥�听

Koewler has also built his own furniture, crafted stained glass for his home, restored and built watches and made a branded giant Jinga game for his backyard get togethers called Terrible Tower. He attributes his tinkering in so many mediums to his 鈥渟tarving artist鈥� tendencies, always searching for听the next cool project or challenging tool to learn. 听

鈥溾�楽tarving鈥� can have a positive interpretation too. For example, someone could be starving for inspiration, the next project or cool build idea, or their next design. I attribute it to a high standard for satisfaction or insatiability one鈥檚 own work. No one expects you to be a god of boundless inspirational genius, an Einstein of innovation, or a bottomless font of ideas. We all build on the shoulders of giants who built on the shoulders of giants before them.鈥� 听

So, go forth and find your inspiration, your next project, big move in life or whatever you're starving for.

Dr. Shannon Pritchard, Associate Professor of Art History: Pritchard presented her paper titled, Seeing Through Giovanni di Paolo鈥檚 Eyes in Fifteenth Century Siena on Friday, October 27at the Sixteenth Century Society Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Her presentation was part of a panel titled, What鈥檚 New is Old鈥�Again: Sixteenth Century Artists鈥� Use of the Past.

Rob Millard-Mendez, Professor of Art: Millard-Mendez won the second-place award in The Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana annual spooky show in October. First place went to a 91社区 Art and Design Department alum, Aly Smith.听听

Dr. Kristin LaFollette, Assistant Professor of English: LaFollette鈥檚 research article, Exploring Embodiment Through Rhetoric of Health and Medicine: An Arts-Based, Transgenre Pedagogy, recently received the 2023 Article of the Year Award from the Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine (ARSTM). LaFollette completed this research project with the assistance of a 91社区 Early Career Faculty Grant.

Dr. Stella Ress, Associate Professor of History, and Dr. Denise Lynn, Chair of the History Department, wrote introductions for a website called Mapping Inequality.听

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Dr. Denise Lynn, Chair of the History Department, will release her book, Claudia Jones: Visions of a Socialist America, on January 30 in the U.S.听

Nancy Raen-Mendez, Instructor in Art:听

• Hers (painting), 45th Annual Whitewater Valley Art Competition, group exhibition. Indiana University East Art Galleries, Richmond, Indiana, October 13 through December 18听
• Bayard Park Bird, Backyard Egg, and A Schnucks Cupcake (painting), Still Life 鈥� 2023, Gallerium online, October 12 through December 12听

Dr. Dan Bauer, Professor of Anthropology: Bauer was invited by the French Institute for Andean Studies to present at the colloquium, La Concha Spondylus: Balance y Perspectivas desde la Arqueologia Andina y Mesoamerica. The colloquium was held in Lima, Peru November 15-16 and was funded by the French Museum of Natural History and the French Institute for Andean Studies (Lima). The colloquium consisted of 15 invited speakers (12 archaeologists, two biologists and one cultural anthropologist (Bauer)) from seven countries. Bauer鈥檚 presentation was titled La Cuna del Spondylus: Perspectivas Etnograficas desde la Costa Ecuatoriana.

Additionally, Bauer was invited to give a presentation in the Amazonian city of Iquitos, Peru at the Biblioteca Amazonica on November 21. The presentation was titled Spondylus a Chambira: Perspectivas Antropologicas desde la costa ecuatoriana a la Amazonia Peruana and was sponsored by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, the Escuela de Artes y Culturas Amazonicas and the Asociacion Cultural Miguelina Acosta Cardenas.听

Dr. Taylor Petty, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice,听and听Dr. Laura Lutgen-Nieves, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice:听Petty and Lutgen-Nieves recently had . In 2022, Lutgen-Nieves conducted 101 semi-structured interviews of individuals held at Vanderburgh County Jail related to substance use and mental health issues. 听

Dr. Joy Santee, Associate Professor of English: Students in this semester's ENG 411: Writing in the Digital Age course have been writing blog posts, event proposals, marketing materials and recommendation reports as part of a semester-long service-learning project with community organization Seton Harvest. The first publicly available document has now been posted on .听It was also posted on the . The author of the post is senior 91社区 student Clarissa Botello, who is majoring in English with a concentration in professional writing and rhetoric. Posts from other students will be published in the coming months.听

Jenn Horn, Instructor in English: In September, Horn attended and volunteered at the in Kenosha, Wisconsin, of which she is on the planning committee. The conference theme was The Whole Scoop: A Holistic Approach to FYE, and presentations were given about all the offices and departments that are necessary for first-year student success.听
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In October, Horn co-presented with Taylor Horsley, Adjunct in English, at the held at 91社区. The theme was Making the Invisible, Visible, and Rokicki and Horn discussed placement reading (how students end up in their composition courses) and had some audience participation where the discussed ways they might make the process more visible to those outside the English department and the College of Liberal Arts.听
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In November, Horn was the Panel Chair for and presented her paper titled at the Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society in Portland, Oregon. The theme was Roots, Rootlessness, and Uprooting.听

Dr. Andy Buck, Buck, Andrew. 2023.听鈥淐ritical Letter Writing and Deliberation During the Brezhnev Era.鈥澨鼸urope-Asia Studies. DOI:听听

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