Elizabeth Pulanco/ Winonan

Last week, the Watkins Hall Gallery showcased “Once Upon a Time,” a graphic arts show, which featured different interpretations of classic fairytales.

“Beauty and the Beast,” “Alice in Wonderland,”  “Pinocchio” and “Little Red Riding Hood” were the fairytales displayed by the senior graphic art students.

The observers were transported into each story while looking at the pieces of art.

Senior Brianna Barck enjoyed seeing the incorporation of technology in the projects.

“It was interesting seeing the different interpretations of the stories within the art,” Barck said.

Each of the graphic art students picked a fairytale they enjoyed or identified with.

Katie Effert, whose piece was based on “Beauty and the Beast,” had always loved the story as a child.

“I always saw Belle as my princess because I liked to read as a kid,” Effert said.

Being disappointed with the lack of backstory written about Belle, Effert decided to give the princess her own original story in her artwork.

“I wanted her to be more than just a pretty face,” Effert said.

Sam Salkin, who chose to depict “Pinocchio” in his art, also saw himself reflected within the character.

“I was called Pinocchio by my parents because of my larger nose, but I’ve now embraced it,” Salkin said.

Salkin’s portion of the gallery displays the puppet-turned-boy as an AI model, similar to Siri on the iPhone, creating several emotions for Pinocchio to show to the observer.

Shashant Malla used the classic story of the young girl Alice from “Alice in Wonderland” being taken on extraordinary journey, incorporating it to the story of an immigrant.

“I was inspired by an Ethiopian girl’s journey to America after a revolution broke out in her country. She had to go through 12 countries before she got to the U.S.,” Malla said.

Malla also related to the adventure to a new land because he is one of Winona State University’s international students.

Haley Poling went on a more emotional route with her depiction of “Little Red Riding Hood.”

Poling depicted how Little Red Riding Hood struggled internally to hide her true nature as the Big Bad Wolf. After embracing her inner wolf, Little Red Riding Hood is no longer afraid, Poling said.

“I wanted to show how good and evil could both exist in one person,” Poling said.

Unlike the other art in their gallery, Poling’s photography was the only part of the project that used a live person as the main focus of the art.

As a group, it was difficult to effectively use the space of the gallery due to the small section of the room dedicated to the art project. There were also last minute problems students faced which is typical for most large-scale projects.

By adding their own fresh ideas to classic childhood stories, each artist made their inner child proud, reinterpreting famous fairytales and stories as interpretations for their own lives.