By Scarlett Birge, student news writer, Office of University Communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Whitley Howlett, a senior of Louisville, Ky., will present her art exhibition starting Nov. 1 through Nov. 5. The reception to Howlett’s Senior Art Exhibition will be on Wednesday, Nov. 3 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at The Pence-Chowning Art Gallery, 205 University Drive, Campbellsville, Ky.
“My focus is less of what art can do for me and more of how it can bring connection, unity and change for others. Ultimately, I create art that I would want to see and what I think would spark interest in others. That is where joy and wonder can be found,” she said.
Howlett is a multimedia artist and has worked with traditional media such as acrylic paint, oil paint, charcoal, graphite, textiles, printmaking and ceramics. She has also worked in spray paint, graphic design and photography.
She will be graduating from Campbellsville University in December with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Graphic Design. After she has graduated, she hopes to travel and become a full-time artist creating murals.
“As I was growing up, I adopted art to communicate and connect to the world around me. Now I am older and have gained both confidence and my own voice outside of art,” Howlett said.
During her time at Campbellsville University, Howlett has earned several awards and worked in various artistic environments. She has worked at the Office of University Communications as a photographer since 2018 and has had photographs published in multiple editions of The Campbellsvillian, the university’s alumni magazine; the Central Kentucky News-Journal; newspapers throughout Kentucky and many online outlets.
Her interest in photography earned her Campbellsville University’s Student Nature Photographer of the Year Award in spring 2019.
She has been involved in several Campbellsville University theater productions such as “Fallible Figures,” “The Last Five Years,” “She Loves Me” and “Macbeth,” as a costume designer, stage designer and hair and makeup artist.
In summer 2019, she completed a mural for Magnolia Springs, an assisted living community in Louisville, Ky., which was featured in the Central Kentucky News-Journal. As part of a Campbellsville University “beautification” project, she completed a mural on campus titled “Touching the Unknown” in fall 2020. This mural was inspired by her lifelong interest in the ocean and space and how those environments would interact.
“I like my pieces to be an intimate experience where viewers discover things about the piece by looking intentionally. This acts as both a reminder to my and to viewers to be present and pay attention to details,” said Howlett.
Howlett has had the opportunity to work in several digital fields. She completed a graphic design internship with Eric Hurtgen in spring 2021. She has illustrated and designed the covers of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 editions of Campbellsville University’s “President’s Report,” which is sent out to more than 20,000 donors who are alumni and friends of the university. She also designed the university’s Christmas card for this year.
She is the daughter of Chad and Julie Howlett of Louisville.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 12,000 students offering over 100 programs of study including Ph.D., master, baccalaureate, associate, pre-professional and certification programs. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.