Kaitlyn Moton, class of 2026

Jordyn Templeton, class of 2026

What happens when personal history is etched into the very objects we inherit? This exhibition explores the physical vessels of memory—from the symbolic bluebonnets of the Texas landscape to the literal, worn-down grooves of a vinyl record. In a world of temporary playlists and invisible music files, this exhibition highlights the tangible weight of sound, using the “crackle” of vintage vinyl to bridge the gap between generations. By integrating personal photographs and collected mementos, artist Jordyn Templeton pays homage to her home state of Texas, while creating an “analog sanctuary” for intentional connection in a digital age. The collection maps a journey from the quiet sanctuary of a great-grandmother’s garden to the competitive greens of a golf tournament.

Templeton utilizes a diverse range of media, including acrylic, watercolor, and upcycled objects, to navigate her heritage. Central to the exhibition is the concept of “material memories,” where repurposed items, such as a repainted jewelry box, deer skull, giant clock, and vinyl records become anchors for a visual autobiography. While modern digital music can feel fleeting and distant, these works celebrate a “sonic lineage,” transforming physical records into canvases that honor the ritual of shared stories across generations.

Jude Williams, class of 2026

*This exhibition is displayed in the Magale Library lobby.

Thoughtfully reflecting on chaos and uncontrollable events, without succumbing to it and letting it overtake you, allows you to appreciate the joy inside it and give it meaning in retrospect.

This work is focused on the paradox of contradictory emotions throughout a lived experience. Grief and pain exist side by side with joy and beauty, often in a reflective nature. Curiosity, loss, and love fluctuate through a person’s life like the seasons. This exhibition explores these concepts through painting, drawing, collaging, assemblage sculpture, and poetry.

Throughout this exhibition, the red that borders each piece represents the chaos that attempts to confine you to the physical world. These borders also mimic the framing of the artist’s glasses, a nod to their constant perspective and lens on life. The four seasons represent joy, the passage of time, and inevitable cycles of life, leading to reflection and meditative self-examination of these universal human experiences that we face in our own time.

Emma Foster, class of 2026

While describing this exhibition, words like “landscape” may be used; however, with the exception of a few paintings, it is inaccurate to describe the artwork as landscapes. Though they explore natural beauty, most of the works depict tightly cropped compositions to highlight observed details.

In 2024, the artist started taking her own reference photos for her painting practice on walks through her neighborhood – Dogwood. The resulting artworks are included in this exhibition.

This body of work explores the beauty that can be found in the mundane, which is visible to those who wish to observe it.

This spring, the Meadows Museum celebrates 50 years on Centenary’s campus. Our exhibitions this semester center around the museum’s mission:

The Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College of Louisiana is an educational unit of the College charged with the collection, conservation, preservation and interpretation of visual art works of museum quality from the College Collection inclusive of the Indochina Collection of Jean Despujols. 

Curated from our permanent collection, our exhibitions honor the original gift of Despujols’s work by Algur H. Meadows, the breadth of our collection today, and our role as an academic museum.

Prof. Joshua Chambers

I create paintings that blend memory, metaphor, and the absurd to explore the narratives we carry and construct. Using acrylic, gouache, watercolor, and ink, I build symbolic landscapes inhabited by animals, masked figures, and theatrical props—each representing fragments of my personal mythology. Influenced by a background in theatrical set design and a fascination with absurdist literature, my compositions often take on a surreal, dreamlike quality, reflecting on how we perform identity, mask vulnerability, and search for connection in a fractured world. Recurring figures like chimpanzees and birds serve as emblematic guides through these open-ended scenes, which invite viewers into the ambiguity of meaning-making. Text appears subtly, drawn from fragmented conversations or literary echoes, not as directives but as interpretive cues—lines from a half-remembered play. Through this visual storytelling, I aim to create work that is both playful and poignant, inhabiting the space where logic breaks down and imagination takes hold.

Kristin Sorensen

There are moments in life when something ordinary suddenly feels radiant — when sitting in anticipation of a guest, when the light shifts across the floor just so, or even when a child leans into you and rests without resistance. In those moments, God can feel very near. It’s in those quiet, unremarkable moments that something deeper than what can be seen is happening.

These paintings and poems are my way of honoring those moments. As mundane as they seem, they come from my experiences and feelings, and as I’ve pondered and prayed over these memories and these words, I have seen these things become vessels of meaning.

Life Indwelt is a collection of domestic scenes, personal memories, and small offerings — all created with reverence. Each pairing is an offering to God and a reminder that the sacred isn’t somewhere else — it’s here. In the light. In the stillness. In the love we receive and give without even thinking. It’s about the meanings these moments have and the God who created us to experience them.

presented by Poljak Group

Perspectives is an inspired collection of work from local artists and Poljak Group friends who share a glimpse of how they see and interpret the beauty around them. Their time, ideas, energy, and inspirations together create a collection born from hard work, heart, grit and artistry. The artists’ unique perspectives are the culmination of an investment of art and soul that just might broaden our own.

Featuring artwork by:
Scarlett Hendricks
Mary Virginia Hill
Pat Sewell
Cindy Singletary
Shelly Taylor
Star Williams

Tamia Alexander, class of 2025

*in Turner Art Center gallery

This exhibition transforms sneakers into vibrant works of art, showcasing how footwear can tell personal stories and reflect individual experiences. Each Design is unique, offering a glimpse into the creative process.

Step Into Art features four distinct shoe designs that illustrate childhood, symbolize unity and strength, reveal the many sides of our identities, and capture life’s twists and turns.

This exhibition invites viewers to appreciate the artistic potential of everyday objects, encouraging them to see sneakers not just as footwear but as a form of creative expression.

Ethan Davis, class of 2025

Animation has long been a powerful cultural staple in Western media, shaping childhoods, inspiring artists, and pushing the boundaries of storytelling. Yet, in today’s American entertainment industry, corporate practices increasingly threaten its artistic integrity. Stories are unnecessarily censored, traditional animation is replaced by cheaper alternatives, and passionate creators struggle against network executive decisions that prioritize marketability over creativity.

My work explores the impact of these industry shifts, using familiar animated characters and concepts to reflect on what is being lost. Through expressive, colorful, and dynamic illustrations, I reimagine beloved cartoons in new scenarios - some playful, some unsettling - to highlight the contrast between artistic vision and corporate control.

By showcasing both nostalgia and reinvention, I invite viewers to consider what animation means to them and what is at stake if its integrity continues to be compromised. Animation is more than just entertainment; it is an art form worth preserving.

Riana Seidenberg, class of 2025

This exhibition explores the contradictions of young adulthood, ages 18-29. To many experiencing it, this age feels like the in-between of the safety net of childhood and the finality of adulthood. It is a time of increasing responsibility, independence, and uncertainty. The artworks show both the hardships of young adulthood through depictions of mourning, longing, and stagnation, as well as shows the triumphs of relationships, exploration, and self-idealization.

Centenary Art and English Students

An ekphrastic poem is a poem that responds to a piece of art. The word ekphrasis comes from the word description in Greek. Thus, ekphrastic poems often include vivid descriptions of visual artwork.  This exhibition includes two layers of response: original student artworks inspired student-written poems, which then informed the selection of artworks from the Meadows Museum’s permanent collection.

In Intro to Studio Art with Dr. Kyra Rietveld, students practice a variety of mediums and techniques. Four final artworks were selected for English students to use as inspiration in an ekphrastic poetry assignment.

In Creative Writing: Poetry with Dr. Chrissy Martin, students used narrative tools including description, ventriloquism, interrogation, and metaphor to respond to and interpret the artworks. Sixteen of their poems were shared with art history students.

In American Icons & Visual Culture with Dr. Kyra Rietveld, students were assigned poems with which to connect an artwork from the Meadows permanent collection. In addition to visually analyzing their pieces, students connected themes in the work to the course’s subject matter of American art and society.

Azire Muhammad, class of 2027

Lilt can be defined as a sort of cadence or mannerism with which actions are done. It is an exploration of transformation and movement, both in narrative and space. It's a ritual of sorts that transforms and inspires transformation. This exhibition uses a deliberate curation of repeated oblong shapes, which serve as visual metaphors for the fluidity and subtle shifts that underpin the film's story.

The oblong forms—found in the sculptures and installation elements—echo the journey of the fish, which emerges from the stagnant water of a laundromat, symbolizing both change and cyclical patterns. These shapes subtly correspond with the film's themes, creating a cohesive visual language that invites the viewer to reflect on the passage of time, growth, and renewal. The repetition of these forms within the space serves as a rhythmic counterpoint to the film’s narrative flow, drawing attention to the connection between the physical world and the unfolding cinematic experience.

The interaction between these shapes and the moving image creates a dynamic environment, where space, texture, and movement are in constant dialogue, offering viewers an immersive, participatory experience that deepens their engagement with the story. The ultimate crux of this film frames the cyclic and the mundane as being extraordinary in a place that can only be described as banal in its existence–the laundromat.
 

Azire Muhammad is a contemporary visual artist, storyteller, and 2D animator whose work explores themes of identity, culture, spirituality, and social justice. Born in New Orleans, Azire’s early exposure to the arts and storytelling within her community deeply influenced her creative path. Her unique approach merges visual art with digital animation, allowing her to create dynamic works that bridge the gap between tradition and modernity. Her 2D animations, often exploring the intersection of memory and identity, invite viewers to experience these themes in motion. Azire’s installations and sculptures further engage audiences, transforming spaces into immersive experiences that encourage reflection and interaction.

In a collaborative project between the Meadows Museum of Art and the college’s Archives and Special Collections, Centenary’s Legacy celebrates 200 years of preparing global citizens to live productive lives of vitality and purpose.

Arranged chronologically, archival items grouped by theme tell a variety of institutional and personal stories. In addition to highlighting campus organizations and departments, this exhibition includes moments when Centenary encountered and persevered through hardships. Throughout the exhibition, visitors are encouraged to interact with items such as reproduced publications, digitized motion pictures, and historic artifacts reinterpreted through modern technology.

Centenary’s past conflicts with its current values for human diversity in all its richly complex and multi-faceted forms. To share the stories of those historically marginalized by the institution, Centenary’s Legacy uses the school as a window into the South, placing the college’s history within the wider context of the nation and region within which it existed.

Unless otherwise noted, items are from Centenary’s Archives and Special Collections.

Thanks to the Centenary students, faculty, and staff who contributed to the creation of this exhibition. Exhibition funded in part by the Centenary Muses.

Interact with Centenary’s Legacy in the galleries