Department of Art’s, Madelene Wishart, Recognized for Prestigious Award

“To Be The Same, But Now Different, To Become The Same”

Madelene Wishart, BFA ’19

The College of Fine Arts and the Department of Art are proud to celebrate graduating senior, Madelene Wishart (BFA ’19), who was recently honored with The President’s Undergraduate Humanitarian of the Year Award for 2019.

The President’s Undergraduate Humanitarian of the Year Award is a prestigious award that recognizes students who exhibit tremendous commitment to service. Each school or college selects one student to be the Humanitarian of the Year. Students are then recognized at an awards luncheon hosted by FSU President, John Thrasher. Students also receive $200 that is donated in their name to the nonprofit agency of their choice. Madelene Wishart has chosen to donate to Defenders of Wildlife, as recommended by the Bear Management Unit of the FWC.

Madelene Wishart is a multi-faceted senior double-majoring in Studio Art and Environment & Society. Madelene’s well-rounded passions allow for a unique perspective on much of her art. While she works on lighting for many projects, such as in the Merce Cunningham Centennial: Musicircus Florida, she also works with 3D-printed ceramic sculpture installations that bring to light the affects of urban and suburban development. Moreover, some of her art exhibitions, such as, Dimming The Sun, respond disapprovingly to scientific methods that fabricate an attempt to mitigate climate change, while they overlook symptoms of the method and ignore the true reasons climate change has become such an issue. Through her artwork and service, Madelene attempts to inform audiences on how the world would look through further degradation, and attempts to establish hope for the natural world’s restoration.

Photos Courtesy of  madelenewishart.myportflio.com

Madelene’s well-rounded passions allow for a unique perspective on much of her art. She spent a summer at Parijat Academy in India as an art teaching intern, developing art curriculum and a mural project for seventh grade students to create long-term public art. In addition, she participated in a week-long service trip to Woodland Harvest Mountain Farm, assisting an organization practicing completely sustainable living. Although Madelene is a Bear Management Unit intern at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, where she creates data-based maps for field biologists and conducts outreach events to educate the public about bear management, she is also a Fabrication Lab Intern within the 3D Studio at the FSU Innovation Hub.

Photos Courtesy of Samantha Becker and Becky Rutta

Expansive land development in contemporary American life has led to rapid changes in our surroundings. In my work, I reference transportation systems as a metaphor for being in an unfamiliar space between two places. The piece directs the viewer to enter the installation to experience the disorientation caused by the disruption of memory and familiarity of a place.

The space itself is composed of geometric forms which mirror the grid system of land development. This geographical arrangement led to standardization of real estate allocation and aesthetics of architecture. The piece contemplates the possibility of non-places as a result of the monotony that comes with globalization and architecture standards. Still, the work considers the viewers relationship to their landscapes and the surreal unfamiliarity of what once was familiar that results from these development processes.

– Madelene Wishart