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The Augustana University Art Department has presented its highest award — the Harold Spitznagel Medal for Achievement in Art — to three graduating Augustana students. Nick Doby ‘26, Willow Fluent ‘26 and Jake Pecina ‘26 were awarded the prestigious medal during the opening reception of “The Augustana Senior Show” at the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery on Friday, May 1. This marks only the second time that three individuals have been honored with the award in one year.
Bestowed to artists who demonstrate the highest standards of excellence in their artistic endeavors throughout their careers at Augustana, Doby, Fluent and Pecina embody the ideals of the Augustana Art Department and join a select group of artists who have received this distinction.
After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in drawing from Augustana, Doby plans to pursue a career as a comic book artist.
“Drawing monsters is not an exercise in profundity for me, but a process of self-care — a whimsical journey of discovery where monsters are sought like buried treasure and lovingly recorded in ink,” said the Yankton, South Dakota, native regarding his creative practice. “My preferred medium is intended, therefore, to portray my morbid subjects in all their evil splendor — rendering their teeth and tentacles with the detail they deserve or the shadows best suited to illuminate the essence of their monstrousness. The difficulty of working almost entirely with black and white never fails to provide an engaging challenge.”
“Nick is driven by a deep love of story,” said his mentor, Chad Nelson, instructor of printmaking. “What sets this student apart is the depth of intellectual acuity. Nick understands not just how to build an engaging image, but why it needs to exist. Every line matters, every mark tells a story. It’s been a privilege to watch this student develop control and a voice that’s entirely his own.”
An art and mathematics double major, Fluent plans to earn a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. During her time at Augustana, Fluent has focused on mixed-media and found object sculptures.
“I organize my materials into designs that have repetition and tension, and to be just sturdy enough. I work to invoke tension in my pieces because exploring that feeling of your heart racing or questioning something’s stability is an important engagement that I want my viewers to have,” noted Fluent, of Lawton, Iowa.
“My inspiration comes from materials and found objects in the studio. The process of creating my art is crucial. I rarely have a plan of what I want to create, which sounds a little unorthodox, but I believe it helps me stay creative and flexible. I always make sure to spend a lot of time with my materials, manipulating them, turning them upside down and repeating them in order to get the product I want.”
In making their selections, Augustana Art faculty described Fluent’s innate talent for discovering the strengths and limitations of materials, as well as her instinct for how found objects can communicate with each other.
“The results of her process are often playful, mystical and yet can express powerful tensions,” noted John Peters, instructor of sculpture. “She always gets excited about the possibilities of creating form, manipulating materials and generating ideas. She has been a joy to work with.”
“Willow is extremely focused and hungry for a challenge. She has a curious mind, loves to problem solve and is eager to learn new techniques, materials and processes,” said Assistant Professor of Ceramics Molly Uravitch, who also noted that Fluent is always ready to help out with studio maintenance, loading and unloading kilns, or cleaning up after others. “I often have seen her aiding other struggling students with conceptual development or giving a suggestion on how a project could be made more efficiently.”
Hailing from Dallas, Texas, Jake Pecina was recruited to Augustana to play football. He chose to study mathematics with a goal of becoming an architect. He later added an art major as well.
“In my early art classes, I struggled to find my identity as an artist. It was not until I took Design I at Augustana that I began to discover a direction that felt natural to me,” recalled Pecina. “This marked the beginning of developing my artistic voice. My work is deeply inspired by my background in mathematics. I am drawn to order, precision and structure.”
“Jake consistently goes beyond a project’s requirements — taking risks and pushing the limits of his ability to construct with clay,” said Uravitch. “He’s determined to make well-crafted work and has the self-driven desire to remake a project when not up to his standard.”
Generously sponsored by the families of Palmer Eide and Ogden Dalrymple, their work is on view at “Surface: The Augustana Senior Show” in the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery through Saturday, May 23.
To learn more about the Augustana Art Department and its programs, visit augie.edu/ArtDepartment.
About the Harold Spitznagel Medal for Achievement in Art
The Harold Spitznagel Medal for Achievement in Art is given to artists who demonstrate the highest standards of excellence in their artistic endeavors throughout their careers at Augustana. The award is only bestowed occasionally, and was first awarded in 1959.
The Harold Spitznagel Medal was designed in 1957 by Ogden Dalrymple, Augustana professor emeritus of art. Over the course of the history of the award, two sets of the bronze medals have been struck. At the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year, the Augustana Art Department held one last original medal that still read “Augustana College.” Thanks to the support of past Spitznagel awardees, friends of the Augustana Art Department and TSP, Inc., a new set of bronze medals were struck. These had only one update from Dalrymple’s original design — the medals now read “Augustana University.”
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