Scripps student exhibits spotlight history and innovation

Posters created by students in VICO 4112/5112 Illustration Capstone: Advanced Informational Graphics

Two new exhibits on view this month on ��’s campus showcase the wide range of work being done by students in the School of Visual Communication in Scripps College of Communication from digging into archives to experimenting with new technology.

Athens Mental Health Center history told through infographics

On the fifth floor of Alden Library, the Robert E. and Jean R. Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections is featuring an exhibit that blends archival materials with student-designed infographics.

The six posters were created by students in VICO 4112/5112 Illustration Capstone: Advanced Informational Graphics, taught by Professor Adonis Durado. Each spring, Durado’s class has partnered with archivists and librarians at the Mahn Center to research a new collection and turn it into a public exhibit. Past projects have drawn from the Rare Books Collection and the Civil War Correspondence Collection, as well as the Cornelius Ryan Collection of World War II Papers.

This year, students worked with records from the Athens Mental Health Center, often remembered locally as the Athens Lunatic Asylum or The Ridges. Manuscript Archivist Greta Suiter and Art Librarian Heaven Herrold met with the class throughout the semester, introducing students to both the physical and digital collections. Suiter also invited Tom O’Grady to speak about historic preservation and the asylum’s place in Athens’ history.

Students were divided into groups and assigned themes such as architecture, nursing students, cemeteries, male and female patients, and annual reports. They later critiqued one another’s drafts in class before final posters were printed and delivered to Alden for display.

Archival photographs, reports and patient records are displayed alongside the posters, offering a layered look at the institution. The goal, Suiter said, was to move beyond ghost stories and statistics to show the humanity behind the records.

“It’s always inspiring to see visually how students use collections and data to make engaging pieces,” she said. “The infographics help us see change over time and bring out the humanity behind the numbers.”

The multi-year collaboration has been chronicled in a series of blog posts on the , under the title Visualizing Mahn Center Collections.

“Projects like this let students see how research and design come together to tell stories that matter,” Durado said.

Generative Sparks exhibit showcases AI storytelling

Also opening this month, the VisCom Focus Gallery on the first floor of Schoonover Center will host Generative Sparks: 2025 Student Showcase beginning Sept. 11.

The exhibit features more than 50 projects from VICO 3465/5465 Generative Storytelling and Design, an undergraduate and graduate course that introduces students to generative AI as a creative tool. Students at every level — bachelor’s, master’s, MFA and Ph.D. — contributed to the show.

On display are text-to-image experiments, redesigned film posters, children’s books, album covers and short videos, all created during the 2024–25 school year.

“AI allows students to imagine and create beyond the limits of traditional tools,” said professor Adonis Durado. “It shortens the distance between imagination and execution, encouraging students to take bold risks and push creative boundaries.”

For many, the course offered a first hands-on experience with AI. Chelsea Clark-Besic, a master’s student in the communication and media arts MFA program, said it encouraged her to think about creativity in new ways.

“Generative AI is a tool that helps us explore self-understanding and community. In class we questioned its ethics, but we also learned to embrace change with knowledge and insight,” Clark-Besic said.

She added that the broader conversation about AI is often misunderstood.

“There’s a lot of misinformation about AI. It’s not a job taker or a magic fix — it’s simply a tool,” she said. “Used poorly, it can cross into plagiarism. Used thoughtfully, it can empower people who might never have had access to certain knowledge before.”

Nadiah Abidin, a Fulbright Scholar from Indonesia and Ph.D. student in Media Arts and Studies, said the course has been transformative for her scholarship and practice.

“Creating book covers, a children’s book and even an AI-assisted film trailer gave me hands-on experience in how technology can amplify creativity and storytelling,” Abidin said. “These projects weren’t just technical exercises. They showed me how AI can connect people across cultures and spark curiosity about diverse traditions.”

Abidin said the work has also shaped her dissertation, which explores how AI can be used to teach and learn about culture.

“For me, AI is not just a tool but a partner,” she said. “It can help students see their identities represented, build empathy and strengthen self-esteem.”

Expanding student impact at OHIO and beyond

Whether researching asylum archives or exploring generative AI, Visual Communication students are finding new ways to connect audiences to important ideas.

“Both of these exhibits show the power of design education at ��. From uncovering forgotten histories to imagining new futures with AI, our students are learning that communication design is not just about aesthetics — it’s about making meaning and impact in the world,” Durado said.

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