Art in the Library

Anaya Miller is a senior at Southern Adventist University, pursuing a double major in Fine Arts and English (Professional/Writing) as well as a minor in psychology. She began experimenting with visual art in her childhood. Her current favorite medium is a pen, pencil, or a marker. She explored digital art during the summer break before her final year at Southern, producing the four works that are displayed.

All Things: Vertebrates, All Things, Invertebrates, 2025

Digital

A visual representation of Cecil Frances Alexander's hymn "All Things Bright and Beautiful." The collection of three artworks highlights a selection of vertebrate and invertebrate creatures with the first stanza of the hymn illustrated in the center artwork.

Pain to Psalm, 2025

Digital

This blend of visual art and text hints at the emotions that inspire and bleed out into many artist's creations. The three psalms used as the background of the work (Psalms 88, 142, and 42) progress from feelings of hopelessness and abandonment to peace and praise for God.

Mitch Menzmer is a professor in the Chemistry Department at Southern Adventist University.

The current five-piece work on display is an early outcome of his exploration into the relationship between scientific methodology in his research as a chemist, and his practice as an artist. Menzmer is looking for similarities and differences between as well as mutual influences of the two processes. He has found that both processes rely on development through iteration and testing. Both processes reach their ultimate goal when they are evaluated by peers (critics) and viewed by a general audience.

One significant difference between the two processes in this area is accessibility – the visual representation of an idea in art is generally much more accessible to a wider audience than is a scientific publication. The goal of this current work has been to represent in a non-scientific way, the essence of morphological change in a molecular process – attempting to match the same cathartic experience. Menzmer continues to seek a mutual influence between the two processes.

A collection of original water-color paintings by John James Audubon are currently on exhibit on the library's main floor. These paintings were originally created for Birds of America. This collection was donated by Dr. Bruce Elliston, '68 and Judy Elliston, '67 in memory of Mr. E.O. Grundset, Biology faculty from 1957 to 1987.