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 study abroad experience 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