Collins Unbound

Each year, a Library panel previews the senior art show, thoughtfully debates the entries, and selects a winning artwork. The Collins Library Senior Art Award celebrates the artist with a $250 prize and invites them to display their work prominently in the library for one year. Works are chosen based on their artistic themes, technical acumen, and suitability for display in the library.

Art Award Winner

Collins Library is pleased to bestow the 2026 Senior Art Award to Andrew Barnato for his artwork, “Time and Place”.

The panel loved Andrew’s use of bold colors and striking prints that hold a distinct strength, drawing the viewer in immediately. The architectural lines that span time and distance show his fascination for buildings of cultural significance, such as those from his travels abroad in Florence, Italy. It also reminds us of our own beautiful campus with prominent bricks and arches. Upon closer inspection, the technically adept work and attention to detail allow the viewer an opportunity for extended consideration. 

We recognize the creativity in how Andrew’s work makes dual use of the triptych format. The principal composition is a triptych in that it contains a right, center, and left panel, and the artwork as a whole presents itself in a larger triptych, with three phases of artistry (sketching, inking, and coloring) juxtaposed. The form mirrors the subject and thus emphasizes it. His inclusion of multiple versions of the same work highlights the creative process itself, which is similar to the building process that he discusses in his artist statement.

From the Artist Statement:

In my work, I explore perspectives and the ways that architectural spaces shape our understanding of history, grandeur, and the cultural memory of medieval and classical structures. Drawing from my interest in Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean studies and my interest in historical architecture in the Medieval period, I used perspective to create a three-panel composition that moves through transitionally similar but distinct environments, with each panel containing a different tone and concept. The central panel anchors the two adjoining pieces through the use of perspective and connecting structure, building a threshold that leads into the other pieces. This creates two contracting worlds: a dark interior illuminated by stained glass on the left, and an open environment with sky, trees, and life on the right.

The triptych format allows each panel to function independently while also contributing to a unified narrative. The left panel’s stained-glass window evokes spaces of medieval and early Christian architecture, while the right panel opens up the piece into the wider world, grounding the work in the classical world. Each piece goes through multiple stages, from drawing to shading to carving, and then finally printed. Each detail is accounted for, from the perspective to the shading, and the precision available in each form that it takes. My inspiration comes from that sense of precision and grandeur that I felt when I first started learning about architecture and the history behind these types of structures in Europe, and specifically, Rome. My personal journey started from reading about the labor and strength, and the thought behind each brick and stone that went into building houses, castles, and even cities. Being physically in a space where you truly understand the scale at which these monuments stand is the feeling I wanted to create. Through a careful combination of perspectival design and building the architectural setting mark by mark, I reflect on how we encounter the past and its tone in space.

We look forward to displaying Andrew’s work in Collins Library for the coming year. Congratulations, Andrew!

Library Jurors:
Christy McDaniel, Science & Interdisciplinary Studies Librarian
Hannah Morrison, Archivist
Jamie Spaine, Administrative and Special Projects Coordinator
Jeanne Young, Graphics Specialist

Past Winners:

• 2025 – Rhae Schulz-O’Neil
• 2024 – Lily Rand
• 2023 – Cas Almond
• 2022 – Willa Bartholomay
• 2021 – Patrick Selner
• 2020 – Bridget Myers
• 2019 – Ada Hoch-Schneider
• 2018 – Kyrianna Bolles
• 2017 – Katharine Etsell
• 2016 – Matt Hufford
• 2015 – Dylan Harvey
• 2014 – Haley M. Andres
• 2013 – Ben Sample
• 2012 – Jennie Noreen
• 2011 – Raye Watts, “Altar I”
• 2010 – Micah Fillinger, “Worlds (un)sung, Heads (un)hung”
• 2010 – A Conversation with Featured Student Artist: Jenni Denekas
• 2009 – Lyndsey Nichols, “Nestlings”
• 2008 – Julia Blitch, “Festive Flesh/Sensational Skin”
• 2007 – Alex Christine Borgen

Congratulations to Oscar Altman and Mia Steiner, winners of the 2025 Book Collecting Contest!

Collins Choice Award & First Place Collection

Oscar Altman
“Ancient Texts and Modern Commentaries”

The Collins Choice Award recognizes a student whose collection illustrates the hallmarks of a liberal arts education. Oscar Altman’s collection of ancient Greek and Roman primary source texts and scholarship that studies the ancient world, along with his essay that explains both the meaning of his collection to him and the path he took to develop it, demonstrate the values of the liberal arts. In his essay, he discusses the relationship he developed with a professor whose academic work he so admired that it has influenced the direction of his studies at the University. His discussion of the items in his collection illustrate the dual and sometimes dueling intensities of work and pleasure in academic reading, as he expanded on when he wrote about the “challenge” of “wrestling” with “the incredibly dense” Pantheon by Rupke and his discovery that the Oresteia contains many themes found in current storytelling and is “a story about the inner turmoil that accompanies all attachment.” Oscar also does a superb job of connecting the texts in his collection, illustrating an understanding of a collection of works as “greater than the sum of its parts,” arguing for the strength that comes from placing different types of sources together to inform one another, and illustrating the value of studying a subject over thousands of years. 

Best Essay

Mia Steiner
“Writing & Reading Mental Health: My Matt Haig Collection”

The Best Essay award recognizes a student who shows passion and enthusiasm for their collection while describing how the items of the collection fit together. Mia Steiner’s essay speaks to the profound impact Matt Haig’s books have had on her life, how they have enriched her relationships, and enhanced her understanding of herself and others. She writes that his books “gave me hope in my darkest hours,” comparing his books to “a warm hug.” Falling in love with a great author is one of the best entry points to a lifelong love of reading. Mia illustrates with her collection that books can be a guiding light throughout our lives. 

This contest is sponsored by Collins Memorial Library and the Book Club of Washington. The Book Club of Washington is a Northwest-based group of bibliophiles, book collectors, book dealers, regional history aficionados and book arts lovers. They award the First Place Collection, and an opportunity for this award winner to enter the national competition.

Each year, a Library panel previews the senior art show, thoughtfully debates the entries, and selects a winning artwork. The Collins Library Senior Art Award celebrates the artist with a $250 prize and invites them to display their work prominently in the library for one year. Works are chosen based on their artistic themes, technical acumen, and suitability for display in the library.

Art Award Winner

Collins Library is pleased to bestow the 2025 Senior Art Award to Rhae Schulz-O’Neil for her series, “Just as I remember you.”

The panel was impressed by Rhae’s impactful and eclectic series that captures the elusive nature of memory. The utilization of “hoarded” materials adds texture and depth, drawing the viewer closer. The incidental moments reflected in the series, coupled with those collected in the accompanying zine, take on greater importance in hindsight. The panel also felt a synergy between the “beautiful wonder of noticing…the split seconds of quiet, of serenity, of sweetness” captured by the artist, and the focus and attention of students studying in Collins’ learning commons, where we envision the artwork will be displayed.

From the Artist Statement:
For my thesis series, “Just as I remember you,” I take a close look at the grasp of memory. The idea that memories and reflections are shaped and distorted by the things you actively refuse to forget. Those moments of noticing a minor detail that, while to many, is not a part of the plot, but to you is a fixation that permeates the way you remember that moment. And sometimes, those things you refuse to forget are tangible and physical, like wood sitting in the corner of my house because the beauty of the grain was too perfect to leave stranded against the dumpster and it sits and sits in my memory until I give it a place to shine.

Collins Library is looking forward to displaying Rhae’s work in Collins Library for the coming year. Congratulations, Rhae!

*****

Honorable Mention

In recognition of her vibrant, large-scale organic paintings and sculpture, the Collins Library awards Beyulah Anderson, an Honorable Mention for 2025.

The energy and movement in Beyulah’s works are palpable; the colors and patterns in the works are eye-catching, evoking a light and relaxed feeling. The organic feel of the paintings calls to mind everything from blood vessels to flowers, suggesting unexpected connections in the natural world.

From the Artist Statement:
This collection is a reflection of patterns and shapes occurring in the natural world that are mirrored by human movements and emotions. I draw inspiration from shells, flora, wind, water, and the human body. My paintings and sculptural installations are colorful representations of these organic forms and the unseen flowing movements occurring in and around them.

While there is no monetary prize attached to the honorable mention, Collins Library hopes to display the work “In the Heights” on the 4th floor for the coming year. Congratulations, Bey!

Library Jurors:
Liz Cheney, Humanities & Languages Librarian
Olivia Inglin, Archivist & Special Collections Librarian
Megan Smithling, Arts & Humanities Librarian
Jamie Spaine, Administrative and Special Projects Coordinator

Past Winners:

• 2024 – Lily Rand
• 2023 – Cas Almond
• 2022 – Willa Bartholomay
• 2021 – Patrick Selner
• 2020 – Bridget Myers
• 2019 – Ada Hoch-Schneider
• 2018 – Kyrianna Bolles
• 2017 – Katharine Etsell
• 2016 – Matt Hufford
• 2015 – Dylan Harvey
• 2014 – Haley M. Andres
• 2013 – Ben Sample
• 2012 – Jennie Noreen
• 2011 – Raye Watts, “Altar I”
• 2010 – Micah Fillinger, “Worlds (un)sung, Heads (un)hung”
• 2010 – A Conversation with Featured Student Artist: Jenni Denekas
• 2009 – Lyndsey Nichols, “Nestlings”
• 2008 – Julia Blitch, “Festive Flesh/Sensational Skin”
• 2007 – Alex Christine Borgen