Michael Cripe
Special to the Citizen
Students and Parkville residents alike gathered to enjoy artwork from two Park University students last month.
The two now-graduated students, Kristina Rackin and Conner Lee, are presenting their end-of-semester projects for all to see at the university’s Campanella Gallery until Jan. 5.
Lee graduated with a bachelor of arts and a specialty is ceramics. For his art, Lee had a particular overarching theme.
Michael Cripe/Special to the Citizen
Kristina Rackin presented her end-of-semester project at Park University last month.
On the surface, the ceramics on display highlighted finely crafted pottery of different shapes and sizes, but in reality, each vessel has been assigned a letter.
Each letter fits into what Lee calls the “ABC’s of War,” as each vessel has been given its own unique characteristics and accompanying name.
Though the gallery gave the duo a chance to have a proper send off for all of their hard work, the afternoon also served as a grand finale for years of learning and growth and, as such, represented something much more: a first step into the real world.
Lee says he plans to continue his ceramics ventures into the future, but not in the way many may think. Lee considers himself a tobacco enthusiast, so, growing from that, he hopes to soon craft marijuana pipes for a budding industry.
“I believe that I’ll start working on making ceramic pipes, especially with the legalization of marijuana coming into play across the nation,” said Lee, a Park Hill South graduate. “I’ll probably be either working on ceramic pipes for tobacco or marijuana.”
Expression is one of the finest opportunities that art presents, and Lee seems to have a firm grasp on how to use his art to his advantage.
On the flip side is Rackin, a non-traditional student from Platte City with three young children. Rackin, who graduated with a bachelor’s in fine arts, lined the walls of the gallery with acrylic paintings.
From more elegant works such as “Grace” to the warm, thought provoking pieces like “First Encounters,” each painting evoked a variety of emotions. As she greeted guests and passersby, her children remained the constant in-between each introduction.
“Mommy, can I have a candy cane,” one daughter asked more than a few times.
“Mommy, can you help me get a cookie,” the same child pointed out minutes later.
The children weren’t just pictured in some of the paintings on the walls, they were an ever-present inspiration for them, too, as Rackin refers to them as the three things that always manage to make her heart feel full.
“In school it’s hard to really narrow down on subjects, but when you’re surrounded by the three of them all the time it becomes a lot easier,” Rackin said. “I see them every single day; it’s hard not to want to paint them. I’m 110 percent mom, maybe, and the rest is student.”
Choosing a favorite painting is easier said than done considering many of the pieces shown Friday featured her children, but Rackin says that she has always been interested in the relationships and interactions people share.
MICHAEL CRIPE/Special to the Citizen
Conner Lee presented his end-of-semester project at Park University Friday.
Like Lee, Rackin is aiming to continue working with her art in a post-university life.
Graduation often brings a burden of emotions, but the opportunities have never been clearer.
“I take commissions and I will be working based off of commissions,” Rackin said. “I love painting people, and I would love to work for other people and get my masters in painting. I can’t see any other course other than painting. I just have to see where it goes.”
Rackin continued on, saying that she owes much of her recent growth to Park Universities faculty.
“I had gone to school about a decade ago, and I took a 10-year break while my husband was in the army,” Rackin said. “So, coming back to school, I have changed a lot in the past two years that I’ve been coming to Park.
“I’m really going to miss the class environment, but I know they’re always here if I want to reach back out.”
Despite the crushing weight of stress and discouragement that comes with real-world responsibilities, both students are chasing down their passions with the determination to succeed.
Lee and Rackin have no second thoughts about the career paths they have chosen; it is only a matter of time before something clicks.
Though there are variables presented with each passing day, this pair of Park University graduates seems to welcome the oncoming change with open arms.