SEMO Student merges beauty and death for art exhibition 

Senior Emma Reinsmith, who is working towards obtaining her BFA with an emphasis in graphic design and a minor in marketing, will be showcasing her art exhibition, Dead Flowers, in the Slingshot Gallery at Catapult Creative House Friday, September 6, 2024 to September 27, 2024.

Reinsmith said she grew up in Affton, MO but spent a lot of time on her family’s acreage. Reinsmith spoke about how she took in a lot of inspiration from her grandfather’s interest in taxidermy and the wilderness.

“When I was a kid growing up, my grandfather would take me out with a lot of his farmer friends, and he always was in the woods… He was always doing taxidermy and really weird, anatomy based stuff, like skulls, and that kind of stuff. So, I was around a lot of that, and I was kind of really comfortable with it, and I found everything very interesting,” Reinsmith said.

Reinsmith said this memory still stays with her when exploring other inspiration. She finds more inspiration within her love for horror movies and Stephen King.

“I definitely have a passion for it. It definitely creeps everybody out a little bit, but I have an appreciation for it,” Reinsmith said.

Reinsmith discussed how her education at SEMO has helped her move forward in her career as an artist.

“It’s given me the opportunity to work in so many different mediums, and just the teachers have done so much for me. And just this drive to create art and make the best that I can, but also make bad art too, because I think that’s important too. And they’ve kind of taught me that,” Reinsmith said.

Associate Professor of the Arts and Design department, Joshua Newth is a former professor of Reinsmith and had the opportunity to view the art exhibition.

Newth said he feels that this opportunity has given Reinsmith a better understanding of what it means to put a collection together.

“In order to have an exhibition, oftentimes, artists will choose one specific medium, so it’ll be all paintings or all sculptures. But by having this exhibition early, before she’s graduated, she’s forced herself to create a cohesive body of work using multiple mediums. From painting, to printmaking, to mixed media sculpture and graphic design, and that’s a really important thing for our students and young artists to learn,” Newth said.

Reinsmith says SEMO has opened up a safe space for artists and she has gained confidence in displaying her work through her education.

Senior fine arts major, Forrest Wallace is a classmate of Reinsmith and was able to view the art collection.

Wallace said they were able to really see characteristics of Reinsmith throughout the exhibition.

“I love it when I can witness the person within their art. Whether I know them or not. I think you wouldn’t have to know her, to see her in the pieces,” Wallace said.

Reinsmith’s exhibition will be on display until September 27, 2024, upstairs in Catapult Creative House.