Featuring Elise White of Sioux City, Iowa, who is majoring in Art (Studio Art) at Wayne State College.
When Wayne State’s Senior Art Exhibit opens March 25, Elise White will be one step closer to completing the collage of her Wayne State education. White, a senior from Sioux City, Iowa, who is majoring in Art (Studio Art) at Wayne State, is this week’s subject of the Student Spotlight Series.
“I mainly work in oil paint and sculpture, but my favorite medium is collage,” said White, a 2022 graduate of Sioux City North High School. “I had some teaching experience in high school, so I knew at some point I wanted to teach art. But after my first semester at Wayne State, I realized I wanted to work in production design, so I switched from majoring in Art Education to Studio Art. It has provided me with the design skills I need for production design.”
“I took multiple 3D art classes in high school and did a lot of art in my free time,” added White, who has a minor in Animation for Film and Television. “Besides that, I spent a lot of time making films with my dad (Dr. Michael White), who is the director of Wayne State’s film program.”
While her dad is an associate professor, White said she chose Wayne State mostly for community.
“My sister was a senior when I was a freshman, and I knew some of the other faculty and was familiar with campus,” said White. “I felt like I had a built-in support system when I got here.”
“Honestly, the performance of my professors has really impressed me the most,” continued White. “Throughout my time here, I have not only noticed their attentiveness but also their drive to push their students to view their work from many perspectives and critically think in ways that improved them. They have also taken the time to help me develop professionally.”
Wayne State’s Department of Art and Design is where ideas turn into experiences. Whether students are sketching from imagination, creating visual communication for digital and print, or shaping physical works in three-dimensional space, they get hands-on access to professional tools and studio environments from day one. The department’s home in the Studio Arts Building includes a professional Mac lab for graphic design and dedicated studios for painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, and pottery.
Students can explore traditional processes and emerging technologies, learn how creative works are made, and develop their own visual voice through critique, theory, and practice. Students get to build a portfolio of work, study art history through a global lens, and engage with visiting artists and exhibitions.
At Wayne State, White is active in the Art Club and French Club. She is currently working on a play and three student films, and she recently completed the art design on a feature film that is now touring film festivals.
As a member of Wayne State’s Honors Program, White will present her honors research project “Greenlight” during the Spring 2026 Honors Colloquium being held April 30 and May 1 at Wayne State.
White will graduate Saturday, May 9, in Wayne State’s historic Willow Bowl. She has accepted a seat in the Master of Fine Arts Scenography Program at the University of Kansas. Upon completing graduate school, she intends to work as a production designer in the film industry and eventually settle into a teaching position.
Fun Fact: “I sometimes dream about playing competitive women’s hockey … I have never played hockey.”