Winona State University’s Watkins Hall Art Gallery, held their final show, Chroma, last week from April 16-20.

The gallery exhibited four pieces of artwork put together by four art students attending Winona State. Dani Loomis, a senior studying I-Design, developed an art piece titled “It’s the Little Things in Life,” depicting a collage of photos with each photo holding a different shade of color.

“Sometimes we forget to stop, look around and appreciate the little things that we take for granted every day,” Loomis said. “Chroma in my piece reflects my emotion towards the subject in each photograph.”

Lindsey Fletcher, a senior studying graphic design, explained the meaning behind her piece of art titled “Sway,” which portrays a chair constructed out of an assortment of colored string.

“Everything is tied together like a huge net, every moment of life shapes who you become, just as each strand of rope depends on the others for strength,” Fletcher said. “One moment may sway the outcome of life, that’s how it goes.”

Adelle Vietor, a senior I-Design major, generated three photographs within frames to present her piece, “Inez.”

“Chroma moments are much more than an emotion or a memory and often remain deep within you,” Vietor said. “The floating photo within the standing frame symbolizes the pure emotion of the experience inside us.”

Aileen Rude, a senior studying I-Design and Studio Art, presented an art piece titled, “Borderline,” at Chroma that illustrated a white billboard with a variety of sketches outlined by a list of words.

“Borderline is a drawing that represents a series of thoughts and emotions which are depicted in the scripted text, colors and shapes,” Rude said. “It represents how my mood and thought process changes in everyday life and how I manage to climb back out to the other side.”

According to the four artists, preparations for Chroma’s arrival at Watkins Hall took months of planning.

“It’s been a semester project,” Fletcher said. “Chroma really came together in the past month.”

While the goal of Chroma intended to teach visitors about the use of color in art, Chroma expressed knowledge to the artist as well.

“We all learned new skills, whether it was photography, weaving, printing and all the complications that come with putting up an exhibition,” Rude said.

Before the idea of Chroma was finalized, the artists met with art professors Roger Boulay and Chun Lok Mah, to settle on a theme that would get the most attention from future visitors.

“We are kind of the misfit group in our class and each of us have different styles in our work,” Loomis said. “We wanted to stick with a very broad theme for our show so each of us could implement a style to the theme.”

As the art represented in Chroma received different interpretations by each individual person who viewed the art work, the artists established their own interpretation of their art work. Each artist also held their own definition of Chroma but when they were requested to establish pieces of artwork, they all went with the original definition.

“Chroma is defined as purity or intensity of color,” Loomis said.

Chroma’s definition did not only allow the artists to find a general theme for the art show.

“We all used the definition to fuel our pieces because our art is a way to express ourselves,” Vietor said.

As the final viewing of the show took place, the artists noted how Chroma changed their audience’s point of view on the show.

“When they first walked in, they thought Chroma was all about color, but after a closer look they saw it as an emotional journey,” Loomis said.