Evie Mulhern (she/her), class of 2025, is the picture of what a liberal arts education can provide for students at Davidson. As a computer science and studio art double major, Evie has been working on merging the digital and technical side of things with her creative endeavors which has lead her, unexpectedly, to entrepreneurship.
Her first year, Evie took Intro to Works on Paper with the visual arts department. Meeting in the Katherine and Tom Belk Visual Arts Center, Intro to Works on paper focuses on the intricacies of drawing, painting, and screenprinting.
I’ve done commissioned work, but I’ve never had people purchase original work that I’d done on my own or for a class.
Evie Mulhern
Although many may think of art as painting and drawing, Davidson’s art courses offer much more in the realms of alternative art. Evie’s interests lie in digital art and screen printing. (She’s also tried her hand at things like sculpture and silverwork.)
Having created screenprints in Intro to Works on Paper and her digital art class (Intro to Digital Design), Evie agreed to have her pieces displayed in the final student art showcase at the end of the semester. Two of her pieces, “Sense of Self Street” and “Are You Ready?” were singled out by interns at VAC who approached her about displaying the pieces in the Hurt Hub. Evie was excited, having studied at the Hurt Hub for her finals and the uniqueness of the space, to have her art set up for exhibit.
All pieces displayed at the Hurt Hub are available for purchase and the increased exposure led to two buyers contacting the VAC to inquire about purchasing Evie’s piece. The buying program focuses on centering the student in the process, which means students receive 100% of the sale profits and are responsible for orchestrating the sale.
Evie’s Pieces
“Sense of Self Street” is a screen print, with several independent layers to create the multi-layered effect. The prompt for this piece was to create a self-portrait. With no other guidelines, Evie took an abstract approach choosing five or so prominent buildings throughout her life and creating this fictional, yet personally significant, city landscape.
“Are You Ready?” is a digital creation combined with screen-printing, made in Evie’s Intro to Digital Art class. Evie wanted the piece to feel like the starting placard of a video game. When asked about this piece, Evie explained that “I wanted to make something that was a little bit different than what you see with screen print.”
Evie is realistic about her future ventures – although being a full-time creative is appealing – she wants to incorporate coding skills from her computer science major in her career while maintaining some kind of creative work. Although Evie’s sold these two pieces, she’s excited about the prospect of selling original work (for the first time as non-commissioned work!) and isn’t sad about losing these pieces. “Especially for “Are You Ready?”, since it is part of a 5 part series, I did not fully let it go, just let one bird out of the nest!”
