Walking into the Paul Watkins Art Gallery on Nov. 17, people were greeted with an exhibition that features the reflective, synthesis works of 12 Winona State University Students who participated in a two-week faculty-led program to Berlin in May, 2025. The program, titled “Berlin: Shifting the Paradigm,” collaborates art and design with equity and inclusive excellence, teaching students to examine visual communication within World War II propaganda. Berlin is a place with a lot of historical and international connections, and students were encouraged to take daily notes and sketches, collect postcards and photos and document every aspect of their experience so that they could portray what inspired them to their own community.
The art exhibit was made up of three pieces: “Concrete & Culture” by Thea McAdams, Maya Laudierdale, Meghan Cooper and Kaia Peterson; “It Happened Once It Can Happen Again” by Alison Buck, Kira Kainz, Lily Schartau and Sadie Marks; and “Fear of Sound” by Ezri Bratrud, Izzy Huncker, Cherlin Miguel Almengor and Mitchell Stauber.
The first piece featured the Berlin Wall, discussing the tensions between power imbalance and creative expression and propaganda. The second group modeled their exhibit as a train, using the windows to frame moments in history and connecting them to current events and issues in the US today. “Fear of Sound” created an immersive environment for viewers to put themselves into the shoes of Jewish families during World War II, focusing on the individuals rather than broad concepts.
“We wanted to put you in a small little glimpse of what that bear might have felt like… and the emotional strength they must have had,” said Ezri Bratrud, a third-year student and artist featured in this exhibit.
For Bratrud, this was her first trip outside of the country and she had found it incredibly valuable, not only for inspiring her art, but to deepen her understanding of politics, the influence of propaganda and international experiences.
“I was just so astounded by how Germany addressed its past. They were extremely open about the need to educate on it. They don’t play down how horrible it was. They are extremely open about it and they lay all the facts down so that we never forget and that it never happens again.” Bratrud said. “I think the U.S. could take a lesson from how they do it.”
Danilo Bojic, a Winona State Professor of Design and one of the two leaders of the program, is happy with the outcome of the exhibit and happy with seeing how the concepts taught in the program were applied and connected to present day issues through design. Art is usually thought of as being self-expressive, but in design, students learn to portray information and emotions more objectively. “We always think about ‘who is our audience?’ and ‘what do we want to communicate to that audience?’” Bojic said.
Students who wish to fulfill WSU’s goals six and eight and participate in a similar program through the Department of Art and Design can apply for the faculty-led program “Cities of Fairytales,” also led by Bojic, which would visit Prague and Budapest in the Spring of 2026. As well as teaching students to organize and produce displays, students learn to work collaboratively. “We’re stronger when we’re together because creativity is not single minded,” Bojic said, “The more people we have, the more eyes we have, the better work will be.”
