News
Student Spotlight: Graduating Senior, Eliott VanLeeuwen ‘25, Studio Art
Webster, N.Y. native Elliot, a senior who interned with the Institutional Communications department this spring, has completed a significant digital art project honoring the institution's founders. Through his internship experience, Elliot navigated the nuances of client relationships while creating two digital illustrations of B.T. Roberts and his wife, Ellen.
The project led Elliot to valuable historical resources, including Howard A. Snyder's book "Populist Saints," which provided crucial visual references from different periods of the Roberts' lives.
Let’s learn more about Eliott VanLeeuwen.
Talk about what you learned during your internship with Institutional Communications in Spring 2025:
With this internship, I learned a lot about what it is like to have a client-based relationship. It was a significant experience that taught me how to properly communicate ideas and meet needs through adjustments and revisions.
Talk about the research you did for this project:
We knew our goal from the beginning: to make two digital illustrations for BT Roberts and his wife, Ellen. The challenge was picking exactly what photos of the two to use. It proved a little more challenging than we initially thought. While each had their fair share of headshots, there were not too many of them together. One incredibly helpful resource was the book ‘Populist Saints’ by Howard A. Snyder. It contained a lot of photos of the two, at different periods of their lives.
Eventually, we landed on two portraits to use as a base that captured them in their earlier years. Then, the style of illustration was developed through trial and error.
What do you see yourself doing as a career?
It is still an open book for me, but I plan to pursue a career in motion graphics where I can apply my skills in video and illustration. Then, working in animation down the line.
How will your Roberts education help you reach those goals?
Roberts helped me learn a lot about learning and enjoying the process. This will keep me wanting to learn and try new things as an artist. This is the most important thing I have learned here that will help me reach my goals.
How has Roberts impacted your spiritual journey?
Tying into the last answer, with learning to enjoy the process, I have grown to appreciate the skills God has allowed me to develop. Being in a Christian environment where we can openly embrace God daily made my spiritual growth excel as well.
What is the best thing about studying your major?
Trying different approaches to creating a project and seeing my work improve through the help of those around me. Big shout out to all the faculty of the Art Department.
What course has been your favorite, and what do you love most about it?
It would be my time, motion, and communication class. It is a class on the Adobe program After Effects. Initially, I did not want to take it because I thought I knew enough about the program, but I was wrong! It taught me a lot, and it was rewarding to learn a difficult program.
Who is your favorite professor, and what’s one way they’ve helped you?
Joanna Poag. She is very patient with me and continues to push me to work harder, even when I am lazy or procrastinate.
What advice would you give to incoming freshmen?
If you are an art student, try to enjoy every class, even if they seem annoying. Stop looking for what you think the “right” answer is and start making art that feels right to you.
As a Robert student, get close to people on campus. Not just classmates, but professors and faculty. The campus is full of great people.
What academic or professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
My senior capstone project. It took a lot of trial and error but the final product came out as something uniquely me as an artist. Check it out here Mundane Lives)
If you could help everyone understand one thing, what would it be and why?
Enjoy the process as much as the outcome, and be empathetic not just to others but to yourself as well. A combination of these two traits will make anyone's life a little bit better.
Faculty Feedback
"I enjoy working with students as they develop their personal visual language, as it allows me to engage with their thought process and developing worldview. The way they perceive the world and explore its complexity and depth often mirrors how they approach their visual work. Eliott is thoughtful and observant, possessing a distinctive ability to make connections between the visual and the emotional. Flexible and versatile in both materials and content, he transforms disjointed moments into cohesive expressions of meaning. Eliott’s work draws from the mundane—brief, everyday moments—and weaves them into dreamy, transformational narratives that flow effortlessly from detached observation to deeply physical connection. Using color, texture, and sound, Eliott crafts transcendental experiences that invite viewers into a space where reality blurs and emotion becomes form. I have appreciated working with Eliott and I look forward to all he will achieve in the future."
- Professor Joanna Poag
"In the intricate dance between history and innovation, Elliot's internship became a focus on visual storytelling. With skillful hands and thoughtful research, he transformed archived photos into sketch-style portraits of B.T. and Ellen Roberts, capturing their appearance and essence—the tweed and silk that clothed their ambitions, the nuanced hairstyles and expressions from many years ago. The final sketches connect past foundations to future aspirations and will be hung in the President’s Suite in the Rinker Community Service Center."
- Donna McLaren, Associate Vice President, Institutional Communications
