Initiative Category: Art & Design

OPUS,  Trinity’s annual festival of student scholarship, is taking place on Wednesday, April 20.  The word “opus” is Latin for work. Whether it’s the arts & humanities, natural & applied sciences, or social sciences, students from all disciplines can present their work or attend this annual celebratory conference.

We invite you to attend OPUS 2022 and imagine the possibilities of your own OPUS!

OPUS SCHEDULE

12:30-12:45             OPUS Parade

12:45-1:15               Opening Ceremony

1:30-4:15                 Student Presentations

4:30-5:15                 Presentation Showdown

All students are given the opportunity to enter into a competition for all solo and group presentations. Top scorers advance to the Presentation Showdown where they give a 5-minute summary of their presentation in front of their peers and additional judges.

4:30-6:30                 Trinity Trolldown Dinner in the Dining Hall

5:00-6:00                 Dunk Tank Fundraiser for Ukraine

6:00-7:30                 Raffle & Closing Ceremony

7:30-8:30                 Senior Student/OPUS Art Reception

6:30-8:30                 GRUMPUS Graduate OPUS

9:00-10:00               Outcry

Special Thank you!

The Trinity Christian College community is grateful to alumni Yvette Madany (’85) and Peter Madany (’82), who generously provided financial support to underwrite expenses for OPUS 2022.

The OPUS 2022 committee is also grateful for the support of Trinity administration, faculty, and staff, including the departments of admissions, student life, physical plant, audio-visual services, information technology services, marketing and communications, and Creative Dining.

OPUS Committee Members

Brian Cerney

Inglebert Christiansen (Student Graphic Designer)

Sarah Hoeksema (co-chair)

Jeff Nyhoff

Mary LoGalbo

Deb Majewski (co-chair)

Katie Oomkes

Julianna Padilla (Student Government Representative)

Aron Reppmann

Omar Sweiss

Kevin Schenke

Maura Sukamto (Student Graphic Designer)

For 45 years, the Chicago Semester program has been providing opportunities for students to gain real world experience in an exciting big city. Along with many Trinity students who have taken advantage of everything that the program and the city of Chicago have to offer, several professors from the College will be participating in Chicago Semester’s Summer 2022 Scholar-In-Residence program.

Scholars will spend two weeks living in downtown Chicago with access to the workspaces at 1871, where Chicago Semester’s offices are located and where Trinity is a University Partner.

“The purpose of the Chicago Semester Scholar-In-Residence Program is to build relationships with faculty from our founding institutions by offering opportunities to nurture their research through resources available in Chicago,” said Chicago Semester Executive Director Mackenzi Huyser.

The Scholars-In-Residence professors from Trinity include:

— Bill Boerman-Cornell, Professor of Education

—Kaleb Dean, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design

— Craig Mattson, Professor of Communication Arts

— Ben Snoek, Campus Pastor

— Michael VanderWeele, Professor Emeritus of English

They will join colleagues from Calvin University, Central College, and Hope College.

The mission of Chicago Semester is to provide urban experiential education from a Christian perspective that equips students for integrated personal, professional and public lives. Chicago Semester envisions a just, generous and hospitable world where individuals are invested deeply in place and with each other as they serve joyfully and fearlessly on their vocational journey.

Join us for the tenure lecture of Professor of Art & Design Ryan Thompson on March 22 at 3:55 pm in the Grand Lobby of Ozinga Chapel. Tenure lectures are a celebration of the mature Christian scholarship of our faculty colleagues. When we celebrate these moments, we mark and extend our commitment to our core identity and mission as a College – and we rejoice at the gifted teacher-scholars in our midst!

Thompson’s lecture, “Look this Way,” engages the role of conceptual art in an attention economy, with a specific focus on how it might help stretch our attention and expand our understanding of time. The lecture will also speculate on connections between conceptual art, prayer, and the discomfort of embracing the unknown.

A Bachelor’s Degree from Trinity Christian College prepares students to flourish in their careers and vocations. And our graduates are well-prepared. According to data from Trinity’s Cooper Center for Vocation and Career Development, 97.7 percent of the graduates in the Class of 2021 are employed or in graduate school. That far surpasses the nationwide average of 82.4 percent. 

Each year, Trinity seeks career outcome data from new alumni. For 2020-’21 degree conferrals, 82.1% of graduates are employed, 15.1% are enrolled in graduate school, and one is serving the United States in the military.  

“We are excited to see our students successfully launch into their life after Trinity and continue to make meaningful contributions in the world,” said Director of Vocation and Career Development Jeff Timmer. “This metric is just one way that Trinity demonstrates how it prepares students for positive engagement in their communities and for contributions to the Kingdom.” 

Companies that employ recent Trinity graduates include Amazon, BDO USA, Chicago Public Schools, La Rabida Children’s Hospital, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and Topel Forman. 

The class of 2021 has a range of job titles, reflecting the diversity and depth of Trinity’s liberal arts education: medical surgical/oncological nurse; special education teacher; art therapist; communications coordinator; graphic designer; tax associate; internal events coordinator; pastor; business analyst; baseball coach; police officer; and occupational therapy technician, among others. 

Trinity graduates are also pursing further education at the graduate level at institutions such as Duke Divinity School, John Marshall Law School, Northwestern University, Rush University, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  

Avery Johnson ’21, is currently attending Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., and she cited the support she received from Trinity in helping her on her journey.  “I couldn’t have gotten this far without the help of the Trinity’s staff and professors,” said Johnson, who double majored in Biblical Studies and Communication Arts at Trinity and plans to become an ordained minister. 

For more information about Trinity’s 98% placement rate, visit Trinity’s Cooper Center for Vocation & Career Development. 

For Professor of Art & Design John Bakker, art is a catalyst to build stronger communities. His Roseland Portrait Project, which was recently on display in the Seerveld Gallery, represents the most recent iteration of that philosophy.

The more than 200 panels in the project represent friends, neighbors, and co-workers from the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Regardless of the way society defines a person’s status, Bakker’s goal is to demonstrate the unique value and dignity of each individual, the intersecting networks that they inhabit, and their contribution to the Roseland neighborhood’s rich social fabric. Taken together, the portraits represent a community in a state of imperfect order, with each member helping to support the whole.

During an artist lecture on Feb. 3, Bakker discussed his process and calling as an artist. As he told the audience, the portraits represent how  everyone is made in God’s image. After all, it takes as much time to paint a portrait of a Chicago alderman as it does to paint a portrait of an indigent resident in that alderman’s ward.  “It’s a metaphor for how God pays attention to each of us individuals,” Bakker said. “We are all equal, and we all matter.”

The project is one of several initiatives for which Trinity received a grant from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), which connects the College to the Roseland neighborhood.

The Roseland Portrait Project will next travel to the CCCU International Forum in Dallas, from Feb. 11-13. The forum represents the largest gathering of Christian higher education community.

About the Seerveld Gallery

The Seerveld Gallery, located in Trinity’s Art & Communication Center, exhibits a cross section of work and viewpoints from across the art world. The gallery presents shows by professional artists each year, from internationally known artists to Chicago artists.

For professional market research, improving brand awareness, boosting social media engagement, creating business models and other services, local companies have an option right at Trinity—Fusion 59’s Consulting Team.  

The Consulting Team, which consists of Trinity students and is overseen by Fusion 59 Director Haley York ‘20, recently presented a marketing plan for a new venture by alumnus Gabriel Soler ‘19. The venture involves “New Drip,” a waterless car wash option that has a strong business in Brazil, and which Soler is looking to expand to the United States.  

The consulting team, led by Hope Heeg ‘22, offered a comprehensive plan that included multiple components, including market research, competitive analysis, product testing feedback, product branding recommendations, and a social media marketing strategy.  

Soler praised the quality of the presentation. “This will lead to some good discussions with the people in Brazil,” he said. “They did a thorough job with research. The pitch deck was well organized and the branding work was very detailed.” 

The team spent about two months working on the presentation. York brought together a team with diverse backgrounds for the assignment, Heeg said. “We had accounting, marketing, and graphic design majors to help tackle this new project. We knew we had to come up with a marketing plan and a strategy to bring New Drip to the United States from Brazil. The team took areas that they were experts in and we went from there! We all reviewed each other’s work and made the necessary changes to provide the most thought-through plan,” she said. 

This was one of several projects the Consulting Team has been working on. “Each semester we are assigned at least four clients in the Chicagoland area that need assistance with their digital marketing. We provide a certain amount of postings per week on various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube,” Heeg said. “Depending on what package the client purchases, we also do photoshoots to gain new content and email campaigns. These businesses are all diverse in what they provide to the community. For example, we have worked with the Palos Heights Public Library, Royalberry Waffle House, and Noral Jewelers.” 

As a marketing major, Heeg said the Consulting Team has given her important experience and insights and helped prepare her for a career after college. “I knew that this was something that could help get my feet wet in the marketing realm and help me get an idea of what exactly I enjoy,” she said.  

Along with the professional research and report, helping students gain valuable experience is one reason Soler selected the Consulting Team. “As a student, I donated a lot of energy to Trinity. Giving back is important,” said Soler, who majored in finance. “I realized I could give this work to a third party or to Fusion 59, so gave it to Fusion 59.” 

Soler, who lives in Oak Lawn, Ill., and currently works as a consultant, has personal experience with the value that Fusion 59 offers. Fusion 59 launched while he was a student at Trinity, and he was deeply involved, along with serving as captain of the men’s soccer team and being part of Future Founders, which is affiliated with 1871 in downtown Chicago that supports early stage, growth stage and corporate innovators. “I’m pleased to see how well Fusion 59 is doing. Being part of Fusion 59 is a big benefit for students,” he said.” 

And it also benefits clients. Soler is currently working with several partners in the discovery phase of New Drip. He discovered the product while visiting Brazil, and is looking for next steps in introducing it to the U.S. market. “I wanted to get an unbiased view, which is why I reached out to Fusion 59 for marketing consulting work.” 

The Chicago Bridge Magazine and its podcast, which bridge the gap between the person and public figures in music and entertainment on the Chicago arts scene, recently highlighted Trinity’s Professor of Art & Design John Bakker. Bakker was featured on the cover of the magazine and was the guest speaker on the podcast episode, where host King Hoff introduced Bakker as a “legend in and around the community of Roseland and the state of Illinois.” 

Bakker offered reflections about his Roseland Portrait project, which was created in an effort to represent a community and its imperfect, but real support of one another. For the project, Bakker has set a goal of hand painting 400 portraits of everyday people from the Roseland community, including janitors, EMTs, school teachers, mechanics, cashiers, librarians, nurses, and others. 

The project is a way to tell the stories of ordinary people who make up a real community and address the unconscious white bias that creates a narrative in the news media. “There’s all kinds of good stuff that happens in communities, even communities that are struggling with violence,” Bakker said. “These people get up and go to work every day, they have lives that are interesting. They have the same joys and sorrows. This is representing African-American communities in ways that are ordinary and not extraordinary.” 

Bakker views the project as part of his beliefs as a committed Christian and a professor at Trinity. “The essence of the Christian assertion is that all of us matter because we’re made in God’s image. That’s why I do these portrait projects. The other option is that there is some kind of ranking that some people are more important and some people are less important, and I just frankly reject that.” 

During the podcast, Hoff thanked Bakker for his vision and work.  “It takes a selfless man, and thank you for being someone who is shining a light in the world.”   

The Roseland Portrait project is one of several initiatives that connects Trinity to the neighborhood and is part of a grant from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). The project has been shared across communities, including at several locations in Roseland, Trinity’s Jennie Huizenga Memorial Library, and the Palos Heights (Ill.) Public Library. Bakker also recently presented a public lecture at the Palos Heights Library about the project, called “Using Art to Build a Community.” The lecture is available here.  

The education program at Trinity produces incredible teachers—because it’s more than just pedagogy and the classroom. The Christian perspective prepares teachers to cultivate relational peace, educational equity, and justice for all children and to impact every student’s life through excellence in teaching.

Trinity’s emphasis on its education program was recently recognized by College Factual, which named Trinity’s art education degree among its “most focused.” According to College Factual, “Schools that focus their resources on a specific field may provide you with a better education in this area than those that do not. The Education students at these colleges represent the largest percentage of the student body, making these excellent school choices for students who desire a laser-focused education in a specific subject.”

College Factual also honored several other education degree programs at Trinity for their focus, including:

–Education

–Mathematics Education

–Chemistry Education

–English Education

College Factual honored Trinity in multiple other categories, including as a “Best Value” for special education.

Trinity’s bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology and clinical mental health counseling were also highly ranked.

To determine its rankings, College Factual analyzed almost 5,000 colleges and universities in the United States. Schools were assessed across 1,784 different majors & concentrations, 60+ different and four degree levels to come up with what amounts to over 800,000 distinct lists to help students find the best-fit college for them.