bridging the gap The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) student group organized a trip to Northwest Arkansas, for the fall 2019 semester. On Nov. 1, 2019, a group of 16 went to the DaySpring Cards outlet store in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, for a tour and then visited Crystal Bridges Museum of Art. The trip was an opportunity for art majors to earn symposium credits required by the department and to experience art in the real world. Senior graphic design major Nicole Paiz Garcia said the trip was a great opportunity to learn. "I think a major takeaway from the trip might have been the fact that we got to get really awesome and complete insight from a real company," Paiz Garcia said. "Whenever we went to DaySpring, they had an entire presentation prepared for us. They took us through all of the departments and pretty much showed us how they ran their business." As the group toured both DaySpring and Crystal Bridges, they gained new perspectives on art and how it was used by professionals in post-graduate life. The group visited with the DaySpring design 260 American Institute of Graphic Arts took a trip to Northwest Arkansas for symposium credits. team and looked at their products in all the design stages from planning and sketches to prototyping and development. Senior visual art studiomajor Janey Lewis said the trip inspired the group to use their talents for God. "I am not a member of AIGA, but I was able to go because of my Illustration 1 class," Lewis said."I believe we left inspired to find ways to serve God and others through design or illustration." Stacy Gibson associate professor of art and design, said she thought the trip gave the students good insight into the professional world of design. "We had a wonderful tour of DaySpring," Gibson said. "We were able to hear from different departments suchas consumer research, product development and even from the president." Gibson said the art and design department at Harding gave students opportunities to experience art in the real world. "The art and design department encourages students to seek out experiences in our field," Gibson said. "This trip was focused on learning more about DaySpring, who bas reached out to Harding in the past with internship opportunities and with positions in areas such as web, digital, graphic design and illustration." story by Will Allen
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