Listen Here
By Andrea Hoffman
hoffmana1@findlay.edu
Graphic Design student Avery Beck didn’t expect art to play a big role in her college experience, but closing out her second year at the University of Findlay, she has learned to expect the unexpected.
Around 250 art pieces were submitted to the 2026 Student Art and Design Exhibition, and only 83 were selected for this year’s show. Beck accounts for five of them, an achievement she and only one other student share. For someone who only entered one piece into the show just a year ago, the jump was striking.
“I thought maybe two of the things were going to get in,” Beck said. “I did not think my other two paintings and my other drawing were going to get in at all.”
This spring, Beck submitted three paintings and two drawings, with work pulled from her current abstract drawing class and a painting course she took last semester. The range of pieces reflects not only her technical ability, but also how much her art has grown over the past year. Her submissions also earned her first place in both the drawing and painting categories in the Student Art and Design Exhibition’s awards ceremony.
That growth is something Associate Professor of Art Valerie Escobedo noted early on.
“She’s really talented,” Escobedo said. “I had her in visual fundamentals class first, and I was like ‘Oh, you’re very good.’”
Escobedo, who later taught Beck in painting and now abstract drawing, said she was eager to see her expand into fine arts despite being a graphic design major.
“I was really excited when she decided to take painting class,” Escobedo said. “That’s not necessarily required for a graphic design major, but I was like, ‘Oh, you can really paint too.’”
Beck’s background as a self-taught artist played a major role in that development. For the last five years, she has worked independently, refining her painting skills without much formal critique. That changed when she stepped into the classroom at UF.
“I’ve been self-taught for so long, so I actually wanted to get criticized,” Beck said. “I think every time Valerie came over to my station, I was like, ‘Please rip this apart because I just want it to get better.’”
Her willingness to receive feedback became a defining part of her journey as an artist, helping her refine both her technique and confidence. That growth is especially evident in her favorite piece, Study of Sargent: Portrait of Madame X, which she describes as her favorite thing she has ever made.
The painting, inspired by Madame X by John Singer Sargent, took nearly 40 hours over the course of three weeks to complete. Beck chose to recreate the original painting, which featured Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, with her dress strap hanging off her shoulder. After negative responses from viewers, Sargent repainted the woman with the strap on her shoulder.
“I obviously painted the scandalous one,” Beck said. “I think she turned out so well.”
While she is proud of the final result, the process itself came with pressure.
“I was really scared to do the portrait of Madame X and mess anything up,” Beck said. I remember working on the face, and a group of high schoolers came into the studio and were just circling, and I was like, ‘This is so intimidating right now because what if I mess up right now and they are all watching me.’”
Even so, she ended up loving the finished piece and says she saw much improvement from her first piece to her final project.
Beyond painting, Beck’s work in the drawing and mixed media category also earned spots in the show. Her two pieces, Bones and Defiance, demonstrate her versatility across mediums, something Escobedo thinks will give her an advantage moving forward.
“I think, as a graphic designer, she’s going to have a strong advantage in that career,” Escobedo said. “She’s got good, strong fine art skills, and I don’t know that all designers are as comfortable painting and drawing, and I think it just makes you way more flexible and well-rounded.”
That combination of digital design and traditional art is something Beck agrees is a strength in her work. Rather than relying on computer-based tools or outside references, she can create original elements herself.
“It makes it easier to create things when I actually know how to do it myself,” Beck said.
Outside of the classroom, Beck stays busy with campus involvement, including Oiler 10, Sigma Kappa, and a marketing internship with Sodexo. Even with a full schedule, art remains a constant presence in her daily life, from painting banners for her sorority to working on personal pieces whenever she can.
Interestingly, that wasn’t her original plan.
“I thought I was going to low-key take a step back from it. I thought I was just going to be like ‘okay, I can just chill and do my computer graphic stuff,” Beck said.
Instead, the opposite happened.
“Now I’m doing more art than I ever have,” Beck said. “I feel like I haven’t put down the paint brush in the two years I have been here.”
Her increased output and the success that followed marked a shift in not only how much she creates but in how she views herself as an artist. What started as something she expected to scale back on has become an integral part of her college experience.
“It’s really surprising,” Beck said. “I just can’t comprehend how five things out of five got in.”
